Secrets That We Keep
by Purpwithapen
Summary: He had to move fast. If he knew Braddock, and he does, he and his new team will be here any second...He'd done what he came to do. Instigate a situation that would require the SRU to handle it. He needed to see Braddock in action An old friend in need sends Sam reeling. Can he trust his new team or would it be easier to keep his secret?
1. Chapter 1

AN: This takes place during the first season, probably somewhere in the middle. There isn't a specific spot like in Sugar and Spice. Sam is still new to the team and trying to find his place. The team hasn't been very welcoming so far so he is struggling to make them see he is an asset, not an outsider. I do not own Flashpoint or any of it's characters, but do own my OC.

##### Downtown Toronto, Monday 0800 #####

He had to move fast. If he knew Braddock, and he does, he and his new team will be here any second. He grabbed his cane, and hobbled towards the rear exit of the flower shop. He'd done what he came to do. Instigate a situation that would require the SRU to handle it. He needed to see Braddock in action.

It'd been pretty easy. The shop owner was already pissed at his assistant. It was easy to see from the murderous looks he kept shooting the young man who was probably his son, they looked alike.

When he'd asked the kid to help him, he had made sure to be belligerent when the kid told him the prices of the flowers he was looking at. The owner had immediately come around the counter and tried to appease him.

Then the old man lit into the kid telling him that he was not respecting the customer and the customer was always right. A whisper of encouragement pushed the kid into turning into a full blown argument. He moved his gloved hand, grabbed some pruning shears and put them within reach of the kid.

When the father started admonishing the kid about choices he'd made in his life, the kid grabbed the shears and pointed them at the father's neck. That was his cue to back away and leave through the rear exit. First, he called 911 and used a voice synthesizer to change his voice to female.

He walked painfully to the back door and exited. He looked above him and walked to the front of the store. There are a couple good perches for Braddock to use. Most likely directly across the street. That'll give him the best view inside. He stepped back on the sidewalk and almost to the street. The next building down had a small structure on it. That'd be his best spot to watch the action.

Walking as fast as he could he crossed the street and walked to the building with the structure. He watched the SUVs come flying down the street, then ducked into the alley between the two buildings. He'd seen Braddock in the passenger seat and noted the way he whitened when Sam saw him. He loved that Braddock looked confused but knew this would only give him a short time to watch before he had to disappear.

Jules saw Sam stiffen in his seat and gave him a weird look. "What?" She asked, trying to follow his gaze.

Sam swallowed hard. No way. It couldn't be, could it? He looked out his side window and the familiar face had disappeared. He tried to find the face in the people on the street but it was gone.

"You see a ghost?" Jules asked incredulously. Man he's jumpy, she thought. She scrutinized his face trying to read him. It wasn't possible right now. He keeps things hidden, very well. Maybe too well. Teams and secrets, not a good combo. When he didn't answer she said, "Braddock. You awake?"

"Yeah. Sorry." He looked at her.

"Heads up here people." Ed barked. They all knew that was a response to Jules' comment and was aimed mostly at Sam. Ed was pretty hard on the rookie, hoping to whip him into shape.

Sam looked out the window. Why was Ed always so quick to jump on him? He had been in his head for a minute, but it was really less than that. Gotta cut that out, he thought. I can't let them think I don't have my head in the game.

When they stopped, they all piled out of the SUVs and headed to the back to grab their weapons. Spike parked the command truck and climbed in the back while Lew joined the others at the back of the SUVs.

"Spike, see if you can tap into any cameras and get us some eyes. Jules, you're my second. Ed?" Greg stood next to the door of his SUV where Jules joined him. Jules and Spike each answered with "copy that".

Ed stood at the back of the SUV he and Wordy had ridden in with Greg. He quickly assessed the area and saw that the building across the street would be the best sniper perch. "Sam. Looks like that building," he pointed to it, "is the best Sierra vantage point. You're Sierra One."

Sam nodded and said, "copy." Yep, that looks good, Sam thought. That or the one next to it. He kept that opinion to himself and headed to the building.

Ed saw Sam's eyes flick to the other building and became angry. Is he second guessing me? I'm the team lead, it's my call. "You got a better idea?" Ed called to him before he got far. Wordy and Lew had joined him behind his SUV.

Sam looked at Ed, his face blank. Now what? "No Sir." He said flatly.

Ed nodded and watched Sam run across the street. He looked at the other building. Nah, not as good as the first one, he thought. "Wordy, get the schematic for this place so we can find our entry options. Lew, work with the PD and talk to witnesses. Try to find the woman that called it in, she may have some insight into the situation."

They both answered with "copy" and moved to comply.

The man had made it to the top of the building and had already set up his own perch. He was inside the small structure on the top of the building. It was fairly rickety and some of the boards on the walls had been pulled off or fallen of. It was perfect as it gave him a hole to look through to the building next to him where he saw Braddock appear and set up his sniper rifle. And another hole in the front for him to see the street below and into the flower shop.

He had his parabolic mic out and heard the bald guy bark at Braddock. He also saw that Braddock took it without saying anything. Always such a good soldier, he thought. He saw the look on Braddock's face when he walked away though.

Even with the mask he knew the soldier wore so well, he could see that Braddock was sad and lonely. Guess this wasn't so good of an idea yet huh buddy? They aren't asking your opinion, just giving it to you. He looked at the other building and pointed the mic there, he heard Braddock say:

"I have the solution. The subject has a knife to the hostages throat, threat level red."

"Copy Sam."

"Boss, I have the schematic. Sending to your PDAs." Wordy said as he sent it. He remained with Ed knowing he'd be needed for entry.

"Thanks Wordy." Greg nodded.

"The owner of the shop is Wan and Windy Sing. He runs it with the help of his son, Lo Sing. We also got lucky and there's a CCTV camera across the street. I have video up." Spike said as he typed.

"Nice work Spike. Jules and I are on our way in. I'll need the number to the shop. We need to establish contact."

"Copy." Spike pulled up the info and waited for them to come in. He ran a background check on the family and had that info waiting when the Sarge and Jules entered the truck.

"Lew, any luck with witnesses?" Greg asked taking a seat in the chair next to Spike. Jules took the other chair next to Greg.

Lew was standing with a few people by the plastic police tape. "None of the people here said they called it in, but a neighbor says the father and son have been arguing a lot lately about the son going to college. Seems the dad would rather he get a job. The son wants to go to college first."

"Family obligations. Good work Lew. Anything else? Do they know if they own any guns?" Greg nodded.

Lew asked and then relayed the information. "The neighbor says no. She says they were a very nice, quiet family until recently. Sounds like the mother took a bad spill down the stairs from their apartment above the store to the store. She hasn't been able to work in the factory with the neighbor until her broken hip heals. She may lose her job if she can't go back soon." Lew felt a pang of sympathy for them. It was a tough situation.

"Ok thanks. Sounds like they have some major stressors here. We'll have to find out how it got escalated today."

"I looked back in their record," Spike read the info off the computer screen, "they immigrated here from China about three years ago. Mrs. Sing started working in the factory shortly after. They had some money saved before they came here and Mr. Sing used it to start the flower shop.

They do ok, but the economy hasn't completely recovered yet so it's been pretty slow. Plus internet sales are killing a lot of small shops. The past couple months they haven't been able to pay all of their rent. They own the landlord $2000 in back rent.

He's filed in court to have them evicted from the building totally." Spike shook his head. How could the landlord do that? He understood the need for rent, but sometimes people just needed a break.

"Eddie, make a plan for entry if we have to, but we're going to try to talk this one out." Greg picked up the phone and started talking to the son.

On top of the building, Sam watched the son talking animatedly to the Sarge. He was pacing back and forth and waving the knife in the air, but not at his dad. He relayed this information to Greg.

Greg stepped out of the truck and walked towards the big window at the front of the shop still talking to the son. Things were going well.

On top of the second building, he took out his binoculars and kept the parabolic trained on Braddock. If he listened closely he could hear what the Sarge was saying. Sounds like he knows what he's talking about, he thought. He leaned forward with the binoculars at his eyes, not realizing the sun glinted off the lenses.

Sam caught the flash out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to look at the building next to his. He squinted and tried to look inside the structure but it was too far. He turned his scope to the building.

"Fuck." He pulled back, dropped the binoculars and laid down inside the building. The hole was about three feet from the bottom of the structure so it was plenty of cover for him especially if he lay flat like he was.

Was that movement inside the building? Who would be watching and why would they be hiding in there? Someone yelling his name made him turn the rifle back to the flower shop. Christ. He'd only turned away for a minute, maybe less.

"Braddock! Status! We lost our video feed! Do you still have eyes on the subject?" Ed was yelling and looking up at the building. Dammit! Was he sleeping up there?

"No harm." Sam said automatically. He looked through his scope. "The knife is down, but the father looks like he's going to make a move. He's behind the counter, hands not visible."

Ed motioned for Wordy and Lew to follow him to the building built directly next to the flower shop. It was the closest to the window where they could make explosive entry. They made their way there and readied their equipment as Greg worked to get the kid to put down the knife. Ed could see into the shop, but did not have a good view of the father behind the counter.

"Sam?"

"Still no view- father has a gun! Go!" Sam yelled as the father pulled the gun from under the counter.

Suddenly the window shattered, causing the son to drop the knife. It scared the father so much that he fired a shot without realizing he did it and dropped the gun. Everyone ducked but it was too late.

Wordy lay on the floor motionless as Lew cuffed the kid and Ed cuffed the father. Greg and Jules had quickly followed behind them and were bent over Wordy trying to access his injuries.

"Status?" Ed asked, almost too afraid to know.

Wordy opened his eyes and gasped. "Oooooh."

"Wordy. Where are you hit?" Jules was trying to undo his vest and find where he was hit.

"In the vest. I'm ok. Just give me a sec." Wordy felt around his vest and found the bullet in his upper chest. He put his head back and tried to breathe. Damn those hurt, he thought.

"Stay still. We'll have EMS check you out." Greg sighed in relief. Holy shit that could've been worse.

Spike let his breath go when he heard Wordy respond. He walked out of the van and waited for them to come out.

Sam watched through his scope until he saw Wordy open his eyes. Relieved that he was ok, Sam packed up his rifle. He looked at the building on the next rooftop and shook his head.

Maybe I'm starting to see things, he thought. Although seeing that face and then the glint from the building seemed too coincidental. He shook his head and made his way to the street. Pretty sure Ed's going to ream me for that thirty second lapse, he thought angrily. Screwed up again. Why do I keep doing that?

"I'll walk out, just help me up." Wordy put his hand out. Greg grabbed it and gently helped Wordy to his feet.

When Wordy took a ragged breath from the exertion, Greg looked at him. "You sure?"

Wordy nodded and they made their way out to the ambulance.

Ed and Lew had already taken the subjects out and put them in police cars. They walked to Spike and gave him reassuring smiles. "Guess we know who's buying tonight." Spike smiled back.

"Yup." Lew put a hand on his shoulder and tapped it.

"Damn." Wordy said before he took out his earpiece and climbed in the back of the ambulance.

Ed smiled at him as he sat on the bench next to the gurney. I don't know what happened to Sam, he thought angrily, but I'm going to find out. That'll wait for now. Wordy first.

Once Wordy was cleared, he would be sore but nothing was broken, they headed back to debrief.

Sam climbed into the back of the SUV with Wordy, Lew and Jules. He was silent on the way back except when he told Wordy he was glad he was ok. It was the truth. Wordy seemed like a nice guy.

Ed and Greg rode together while Spike took the truck back.

Jules looked back at the rookie. Was he brooding, she wondered. She knew Ed wouldn't be happy about his apparent lapse in coverage. What was he thinking? What was he doing? She tried to read him again but there was nothing there. This should be an interesting debrief. She shared a look with Lew. Buckle up, they both thought.


	2. Chapter 2

##### SRU HQ, Monday 1030 hrs #####

When they got to the point in the transcript where Ed asked Sam for a status, Ed couldn't keep the anger from his voice. "What the hell happened up there Sam? Did you fall asleep?"

"No Sir. Sorry Sir." Sam kept his face passive and sat in his chair rigidly.

"What happened?" Ed demanded.

"Took my eyes away for 30 seconds. Won't happen again."

"You're damned right it won't happen again." Ed growled. He gave Sam a dressing down for leaving the team vulnerable during a critical time. What if the father had grabbed the gun sooner? They could've lost both the father and son, to say nothing of Wordy getting shot.

Sam took it and replied only, "Sorry Sir, won't happen again Sir." He knew he deserved it. He'd let himself be distracted and put the team at risk. Someone was in that building though, he knew it.

When Ed's anger had run it's course he sat back down. He looked down then at Sam.

Greg looked at the team and asked, "anything else?" He wanted to intercede when Ed had gotten really angry, but he knew Ed was right to yell at the kid. What was he thinking? What had made him take his eyes away from his scope?

"What took your eyes from the scope?" Jules asked incredulously before Greg could. As a sniper she knew that you never lost your concentration. Lives depended on you.

Sam looked at her. He didn't want to lie. Lies don't build the trust he so desperately wanted to build with the team. "Reflection from the next building." He hoped they wouldn't think he was crazy, at least a half truth wasn't a whole lie right? If he told them he thought he saw someone in the building they'd think he'd lost it. He'd never be Sierra again.

"A reflection?" Ed sat up. "You thought the reflection from a metal roof warranted putting the team at risk?"

"Sorry sir."

Ed shook his head. He didn't understand his rook at all. "I think we need to run through some training here." Ed looked at Greg letting his anger simmer. Some target practice with distractions would give the rook the message. Running, course work.

"I agree." Greg nodded. It was quiet right now, it'd be good for them to practice, he thought. "Sam? You good?" Greg could see that Sam had let his mask slip and was berating himself.

"Yes Sir." Sam looked the Sarge in the eye and nodded. Mask was back in place.

"Ed?" Greg looked at him.

Ed held Sam's empty gaze. "Good."

"Ok." Greg closed his copy of the transcript. "Let's hit the training course."

Wordy, who had been sitting next to Sam looked at him with a question on his face as they walked. "Sure it was just a reflection? You sounded distracted in the SUV."

Sam looked at Wordy. He was reaching out, that was unexpected. "Yeah. I'm ok." He was surprised Wordy had asked. None of them had done that yet. He hated to be short with him, but he felt bad that they were all paying for his screw up.

Wordy could see that the kid wasn't really ok. He had his military mask on. The one he used to take the berating Ed gave him after a call. It'd been rough for Sam since he started. Although he still had mixed feelings about the rookie, he wasn't so sure Ed had to ride him so hard.

They worked through running the shooting course and then Sam and Jules did some sniper training while the others used the range. Ed made sure to use mirrors and reflect the sun in Sam's and Jules' faces and other distractions to prove his point. Both did excellent with everything Ed threw at them.

After they'd been training for a couple hours they got another hot call. They grabbed their gear and headed out.

It was 1530 hrs before they were back at the barn debriefing. When they had walked back in, Greg asked Winnie to order in food and they ate while they debriefed.

Ed had made Jules Sierra one that call and everything went smoothly. Sam had been moved to entry. Luckily they hadn't had to make entry and the call was ended peacefully. Sam had been a little surly when Ed had made Jules Sierra One but he kept it to himself. That's what you get when you mess up, he thought.

"Well, we've only got a half hour left of shift so we'll finish up the paperwork and then head out." Greg look each each of them.

"Don't forget Wordy's buying the first round tonight!" Spike said gleefully.

Everyone smiled and there were several exclamations of gratitude. Everyone except Sam. He had given them one one of his small smiles and worked on his paperwork. He was the first to finish so he handed the papers to Greg. Greg watched Sam walk out of the briefing room, his back stiff until he thought he was out of sight of the room, then his shoulders slumped. That struck him. Alone, he could be himself.

Only when he thought he was alone did Sam let himself relax. He wasn't relaxed though. Damn, he thought. Ed had drilled home his point with the training. His anger mixed with regret and sadness that none of them had included him in talk about going to The Goose, their after work wind down spot.

He opened his locker and looked at the picture of him with his JTF2 buddies. He moved his glance to the picture of him and his best friend Matt. They had their arms around each other, giant grins splitting their faces, even in the hot and dusty background. Night and Day. That what some of the guys called them because of the difference in their coloring. Sam was as light haired and fair skinned as Matty was dark haired and deeply tanned.

His eyes misted as he looked at their smiling faces. Matt was always smiling. I miss you so much Matt, he thought. I don't know. This may not be the place for me. I want it to be. I don't really belong here. Don't really belong anywhere. When he heard the others talking and coming into the locker room, he wiped his eyes, grabbed his stuff and headed to the showers.

Sam was dressed and out of the locker room before the others had returned from their showers. He saw Jules talking to Winnie at the desk and looked down. His heart skipped a beat every time he looked at Jules and he didn't want her to see it. He nodded to them as he passed and said, "night."

"Night." Jules narrowed her eyes at him. Guess he's not coming to the Goose, she thought. Still the outsider. Wonder when he's going to start making an effort to be part of the group.

A few minutes later the rest of the team joined her and they headed out.

Sam had planned to bike home, but he couldn't stop the nagging voice in his head. He knew someone had to have been in that building. He biked to the building, locked up his bike in the rack on the street and walked inside. He climbed the four stories to the roof and opened the door carefully. He knew the person had to be gone, hours had passed since they were here last.

He walked to the edge and looked down at the street. The police tape was still across the front of the flower shop and plywood had been put in place of the broken window. At least the glass had been swept up from the sidewalk, he thought. He turned back and walked to the structure. He climbed inside and looked around.

It was barely tall enough for him to stand in. Sam squatted down and looked around the floor. Nothing, he thought angrily. The floor of the building was a thin layer of concrete although the dust on top of it did look a little disturbed. He waved a hand over it and the dust moved. Wind could've done that, he thought.

He stood and shook his head. Where is your head at Braddock? First you think you see someone and then maybe they're watching you? He climbed out and stalked back down the stairs to his bike, admonishing himself the whole way. Really screwed it up this time, he thought sadly. No way Ed's going to let me be Sierra or do much of anything now.

He rode hard to his next destination. He pulled in and rode to the location he knew by heart. When he stopped his chest was heaving. He knelt in front of the grave marker and let the tears flow. He put a hand on Matt's grave marker and let his grief consume him. What do I do Matty, he silently implored. They don't want me, no one does. I'm so tired of being alone. So tired of not belonging anywhere.

The sun had begun to set when Sam finally stood and left. The man walked from the shadows of the trees surrounding the cemetery and stopped when he reached the same marker. He knelt and put his fist to his mouth. "Matty my old friend, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I was right there and there was nothing I could do." Tears fell from his eyes. "I'm sorry it took so long to visit. You know how it is. JTF2 never sleep." He looked at his friend's name etched in the stone and added, "except for you. Sleep now brother, your work is done."

He wiped his eyes and stood. He couldn't save Matty, but he was going to make sure Braddock helped save him.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam walked into his nearly empty apartment and scoffed. Empty. Nothing here to make you stay, he thought. Well, there is one but she was out of reach. He'd known that first day he saw her putting her gun away in the back of the SUV. When she and the rest of the team had pulled their guns on him his only thought had been, whoa she's sexy when she's angry. All business and lethal, a sniper chick.

All he wanted was for someone to care. His family didn't. Hell the General had nearly lost it completely when he'd asked to leave the Army. That wasn't the plan for his only son. Sam was supposed to be the good soldier and serve his country. Protect the public from unknown and unseen threats. Sam just couldn't keep doing it after Matt died. After I killed him, he reminded himself.

The tears started flowing again. He turned on his stereo to try to drown out the thoughts swirling in his head. He grabbed a beer and the leftover Chinese from the fridge. He walked to the only chair in the room, a black armchair he found at a yard sale and sat down to eat. The hard beats of the alternative music keeping his mind from what he was really thinking.

After he finished, he threw the cartons away, washed and put away the fork he had used. He wasn't tired at all as he closed his eyes and let the music flow through him. As the song changed he found himself singing along, the words fitting exactly to how he felt.

Suddenly there was loud banging on the wall from the neighbor next door and he turned the music down. He looked in his room, contemplating his options. His service pistol was there, in a lockbox under his bed. He'd held it many times. Put it to his chest, thinking it was the answer.

He shook his head and decided that a nice long run would be better than just sitting around. Three hours later, he finally returned home. Sam put the key in the door, pushed it open and froze. Even in the dark he could tell someone was in the room.

"Braddock." A familiar voice said.

Holy shit, Sam thought. "It was you." Relief that he hadn't gone around the bend flowed through him. But, it was immediately replaced by a whole myriad of emotions he'd worked very hard to suppress. He lifted his arm and flicked on the living room light. He let his arm fall to his side. "Tolie." He walked far enough into the room so that he could swing the door shut.

Jason Toliford smiled at his old friend from the arm chair in the middle of the room. Or former friend, he thought. Now that he could look at him up close, he could see that Sam wasn't really doing all that well. He looked sad and lonely. He did kill our best friend, he thought.

Sam wasn't sure what to say. It'd been over a year since he saw this man last. He wanted to back out the door and run as far from here as possible. He had been trying to avoid this for the past year. It was his fault Matt had died. He had taken the shot that killed him.

Tolie had been standing two feet from Matt when it happened. It had taken four guys to hold Tolie down until a medic could come sedate him. His scream of horror and grief had resounded through the small desert village.

The medics had wisely removed Tolie's clothes and wiped Matt's blood and brain matter off before Tolie regained consciousness. It hadn't mattered. He had the image of his best friend's head blowing up forever etched in his mind. He had just turned to Matt and smiled because the mission was over. Matt had the beginnings of a smile when it was obliterated.

"Yeah it was me. I wanted to see how you're getting along with your new unit. They don't seem to be too welcoming." Tolie said with little to no emotion in his voice. It was hard for him to keep his emotions in check now that he was face to face with Sam. They hadn't seen each other since the funeral and even then they didn't talk. What do you say to someone that killed your friend? It's ok? What was ok about it?

"I- uh." Sam couldn't seem to get his mouth to work. He wanted to tell Tolie how sorry he was, but that didn't seem like enough. He couldn't bring Matty back, as much as they both wanted that. "I'm.."

"Listen, I know this is hard for both of us. Matty was-" Tolie looked to the floor but looked up when Sam rushed out of the room and into the bathroom off of his bedroom. He could hear sounds of Sam getting sick over and over. He waited until Sam came back out.

Sam put the back of his hand to his mouth. His stomach was churning. He couldn't talk about this right now. "I'm sorry, but you have to go." Sam said in a low tone.

"What?" Tolie wasn't sure he heard him right.

"Please. I can't do- I can't. Please." Sam turned to the sink, reached to the cupboard with a shaking hand and pulled out a glass. He filled it with water and drank half the glass. He put a hand on the sink to steady himself. His knees felt weak. Oh god, he thought. I killed Matty. I killed him. How can I ask for forgiveness? I can't. I don't deserve his forgiveness.

Tolie stood. Braddock's mask was gone and he could see his struggle. He knew this would be extremely hard. He had walked in and out of Sam's building four times before he finally went in. He hadn't been so sure he was ready to talk to Sam. Or If he could even talk about Matty with Sam.

He had so much anger bottled up that it didn't take much for it boil over. He'd been medically discharged a month after it happened with severe PTSD. He'd gotten in so many fights with guys on the base that he knew the MP's by name. He had nightmares every night replaying the last five minutes of Matty's life over and over. He woke up sweaty and screaming, waking the whole base.

It wasn't until he was discharged and seen at the VA did he finally start talking to a counselor. It had literally saved his life. If he hadn't stepped into the VA that day for a medical issue and the doc had recognized he needed more than his help, Tolie was sure he would've eaten a bullet by now.

He had been encouraged by his counselor to seek Sam out and talk about Matty, but he also needed Sam's help with something else. He could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere tonight so he said, "ok Braddock, I'll go for now, but we need to talk."

Sam looked at him. He actually looked pretty good. He had grown out his hair and it was actually a little curly on the ends. He never knew that. He nodded and watched Tolie leave. His body language was non-aggressive which surprised Sam. He thought for sure Tolie was going to leap from the chair and beat him to a pulp. Isn't that what he deserved? He finished his water, cleaned the glass and put it away.

His feet felt like lead weights as he walked to the bedroom. He flicked the light for the living room off and walked into his room. He fell on his bed, curled into a ball and cried himself to sleep.

The next morning when his alarm went off, Sam was very groggy. He slept, but it a fitful sleep. He'd woken up several times after bad dreams. He got ready and headed to the barn on his bike for workout. When he got to the barn he locked up his bike, grabbed his bag and walked inside.

"Whoa." Spike raised his eyebrows at Sam. Not only were his eyes red rimmed, but he had dark circles under them.

Sam yawned and looked at him questioningly., then shrugged. "Long night."

"Ooh." Spike wiggled his eyebrows. "Blonde, brunette or redhead?"

Ed walked in, took one look at Sam and frowned. "You awake?"

"Yes sir." Sam stiffened and answered.

"Good." Ed looked at him seriously. "If you're not ready for the day you better tell me now."

"I'm ready Sir." Sam answered honestly. He had packaged up last night and stored it away in a safe place. He'd deal with Tolie tomorrow.

Ed surveyed him incredulously and cocked his head. "Ok, then after workout you do the Timmy's run."

"Copy." Sam nodded


	4. Chapter 4

##### SRU HQ Tuesday, 1450 hrs #####

As everyone was walking into the building for their third debrief of the day with Sam bringing up the rear, they stopped when they heard someone call out Sam's name.

Sam froze. He couldn't keep his eyes from filing with terror. He turned and watched Tolie hobbling after him. He stole a quick look at Wordy who was standing next to him and watching. "Be right in." He said then walked to Tolie.

Wordy was worried. He saw the look in Sam's eyes. Something about that guy was extremely unnerving to Sam. He was almost afraid of him, or of his presence here. He watched Sam talking to the man. He was really agitated.

Sam's eyes were as big as saucers when he approached Tolie. "What are you doing here?" He said in a low tone.

"I've been calling you all morning." Tolie said, his voice low as well.

"I'm working." Sam said desperately and looked back at Wordy, Greg and Ed who were standing together watching them. Jules, Lew and Spike had already gone inside.

"Sam doesn't look too happy to see that guy." Greg observed. "Did he say anything before he went to talk to him?" He asked Wordy.

"No. And you're right, he's really tense." Wordy looked to Greg.

Should he walk over, Greg thought. Sam looked at them and looked very upset that they were standing there. He almost looked desperate to get away from the guy.

Tolie put a hand on Sam's shoulder and instinctively Sam pulled away. Sam regretted it when he did it, but he was more concerned about keeping this and work separate.

He looked back at Tolie. "Please. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Greg saw Sam pull away from the man's touch and walked forward. He heard Sam's last comment. Man, he really doesn't want to talk to the guy, he thought. "Everything ok here?" He looked from Sam to the man.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. He looked meaningfully at Tolie. "Talk to you tomorrow."

Tolie got the message. He didn't want to have to bother Braddock at work, but his problem was time sensitive. He nodded to Greg, turned and left. He hoped Braddock would be willing to help him. He owed him at least this much.

Greg was watching Sam's face. He saw Sam pull himself together and put the mask back in place before Sam looked at him. "Everything ok?"

Not in the least, Sam thought but said, "yes Sir." He started to walk forward but Greg put a hand up which made Sam step back a little.

Greg saw him flinch and move away from his hand. Ok, what does that mean? Was he beaten as a kid? His realized his rookie was more of a mystery to him than he thought. "You can drop the 'Sir' Sam. This is just us talking, person to person, not Sergeant to officer."

Sam looked at him surprised. Really? When had that changed? Just now? Did he really care? Could he tell Greg that having Tolie here was like reliving Matt's death all over again? No. He'd have to talk about that and he wasn't ready to. They didn't want to know anyway. Didn't care to know.

Greg could see the uncertainty in his eyes. Why was Sam so hesitant to share with him?

"It's ok." Sam said finally. "Just someone I know." They started walking towards Wordy and Ed. Sam made sure that he tamped down his emotions and locked them away before he smiled wanly at Wordy and Ed.

"Friend?" Wordy asked. He turned as Sam and the Sarge reached him and they walked in together.

"Old." Sam answered without looking at him. He silently begged them to let it drop. He didn't want to explain.

Ed heard Sam's tone and thought, doesn't want to talk about it. Ok, we'll let it drop. They joined the others in the briefing room and got the debriefing started.

When the alarm went off again, they looked at each other and sighed. Another long day.

Sam walked into the conference room four hours later his shoulders slightly slumped. Ed had put Jules on Sierra again and they were waiting for her to come back from her SIU interview. It'd been a tough call for the Sarge to make to call Scorpio, but unfortunately the distraught subject made it for him.

Sam sat in a chair by the window, turned and looked out the window lost in thought. He had been on entry or in the truck with Spike today. He'd tried to make tactical suggestions, but they just got shot down. He wondered why he bothered sometimes.

Spike sat between Sam and Lew on the window side of the table. He half smiled at Lew who put a hand on his shoulder in camaraderie. They hated losing people. It was one of the things that made the job hard. Dealing with the aftermath was always the worst. Spike looked at Sam and then turned back to Lew and frowned.

Lew returned the look. Sam looked lost in troubling thoughts. He didn't know much about Sam yet, except that he always seemed to be in trouble with Ed. Sam had some good suggestions today and he regretted not saying something when they were quickly shot down. He hadn't really taken the time to try to get to know Sam. He'd talk to Spike about it after shift. They needed to gel as a group and as of late, it wasn't happening.

"Long day." Spike said to Sam.

Sam was letting the lights of the city blur into sunbursts and was surprised when someone spoke to him. "Hmm?"

"I said it's been a long day." Spike repeated and frowned at Sam. "You were a million miles away. You good?"

Sam looked at him and gave him a small smile. "It has. Hope Jules is ok after her Sierra shot." He said honestly.

Deflecting, interesting Spike thought. Ok, I'll follow you. "Yeah, it was a tough one." Spike looked up when Jules walked in. "Speak of the devil."

Jules gave him a small smile. "That's me." She was half joking, but on days like these she felt like the devil.

"You ok Jules?" Ed asked, concerned.

"Yeah." She nodded and sat down between Ed and Wordy. Wordy put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Ok, let's get into it." Greg stood at the head of the table and started the debrief.

It came to the point where Sam made tactical suggestions and Lew spoke up. "These were good ideas Sam." He looked at Sam who returned his look with surprise. Lew looked at Ed. "What? They were."

"But not for that situation." Ed shook his head. He didn't like his decision being questioned, but he knew there was a reason Lew was bringing it up. He didn't do that unless he had a reason. He pulled the paper to him and re read Sam's suggestions. They were more risky than he would've liked. He pointed that out.

"May have been a different outcome." Sam said. He appreciated Lew's confidence in him and used it to say what he wanted to say.

"Maybe." Ed nodded. "Maybe not."

"Guess we won't know." Sam looked anywhere but at Ed.

"Are you questioning my decision?" Ed asked, his ire up.

Sam sat up in his seat. "No sir."

"I am." Lew stated matter of factly. "If we had used one of Sam's suggestions.." He his voice trailed off. Ed nailed him with an angry glare. They didn't know the answer to that. Would it have stopped the subject? Would it have saved him?

They debated that for several minutes, all of them getting a little heated.

"Guys!" Greg said over the din. When they all stopped, he said, "listen, we can debate whether or not one of the suggested scenarios would have worked, but the truth is we used the one we used and it didn't. What ifs are what run us into the ground. We lost a life today and that never feels good. Beating ourselves up like this is not going to help."

The group fell silent, each going over the call in their minds.

Ed was the first to speak. "I appreciate suggestions." He looked at Sam. Maybe he had misjudged him, he thought. None of his scenarios were shoot first ask questions later as he had thought Sam would do. "Keep them coming. I will try to consider them but know that it's my decision as the TL and I have to consider what is an acceptable risk for the team."

Sam nodded. He was impressed that Ed had almost managed an apology in that statement. Progress? Possibly, he thought. It was better than it had been.

Greg smiled at his old friend. Maybe Ed and Sam could get along, he thought. "Anything else?" He looked around at them. Hearing no other discussion he said, "see you at the Goose."

"Sam? You in?" Ed asked as Sam walked by him.

Sam stopped short. What? You want me to go with you, he thought. "Uh,"

"That's an order." Ed smiled.

Sam gave him an uneasy smile. Damn. I have to now, he thought. "Ok."

"Good." Ed walked with him to the locker room.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam's eyes popped open at 5:30 am and he looked at the clock in panic. He sat up, wondering why no one had called him. It was unusual for him to be the last one in for workout. He looked at his phone, no messages. What the hell? Last night at the Goose he'd had a good time hanging with the team, once he'd relaxed. Now they didn't care if he wasn't there for workout? He looked at his watch and realized it was Wednesday. They were on days off.

He flopped back on his pillow, one arm across his stomach. He stared at the ceiling, remembering last night. The group was sitting at a tall table, drinks in front of them when he arrived.

Jules was the first to see him and waved him over. She had noticed Sam's look of surprise when Lew stood up for him with Ed. She had been surprised herself and it had given her pause.

Lew brought up his thoughts about Sam to Spike in the car on the way to The Goose. They had agreed that none of them had been very welcoming to Sam so far and that needed to be changed. They both felt they had done their part to make Sam feel like an outsider.

When he was placed on the team instead of chosen, they had been extra hard on him. Spike admitted that he'd made some assumptions about Sam based on what they knew about his JTF2 background and thought it would be a problem with him as a sniper making him question Sam a lot. Sam had made some mistakes so far, but otherwise he was doing well. I make mistakes too, thought Spike. We're all human.

Lew said he felt bad that he'd hung back from Sam. He hadn't ever really had a conversation with him and was going to change that tonight. The two best friends had laughed and said they'd have to have Sam over for one of their movie pig out marathons. Although they weren't so sure Sam would like the same kind of movies.

Sam had walked up to the table trying to exude confidence. He sat between Jules and Ed and ordered a beer. At first it was a little awkward until Spike started picking on Wordy for his workout entertainment choice, "Princess Fairy Adventures" the recent favorite of his three girls.

"Sorry man, but you're starting to turn into a girl." Lew laughed.

"Hey!" Jules had tried to reach him across Ed but he was too far. She laughed and looked at Wordy. "I think it's sweet that you're tapping into your feminine side."

"Yeah but does it have to be during workouts?" Spike asked. They had laughed. Spike took the opportunity to ask a question. "So do you have any nieces or nephews Sam?"

It had stunned Sam that Spike had asked. He answered simply, "no".

There had been lots of conversation and Spike and Lew had made an effort to be sure Sam was included. As people were starting to filter out, Spike had moved to Ed's seat next to Sam and looked at him. "So, Lew and I have like a moviefest pig out on one of our days off. You interested?"

Sam looked at Spike in shock, his eyes wide as he took a drink of his beer. He wants me to come over? To spend time with them? Wow. More than anything he wanted that. His heart sunk when he thought of Tolie. He needed Sam to do something for him. Hopefully it was something that didn't take a lot of time. "Yeah I think I should be free. When?"

Spike registered Sam's shock and thought, damn he didn't think we'd ever want to spend time with him. We were jerks. "Tomorrow, my place at 4. We each bring snacks to share and whatever we want to drink. We watch movies and pig out until we can't eat any more."

Sam laughed. "Sounds fun." The fun would be in spending time with Spike and Lew. He knew they were best friends, like the dynamic duo, and it touched his heart that they would want to share their weekly ritual with him.

As Sam lay on his bed, he let a tear slip. Maybe I'm not so alone after all Matt, he thought. Maybe they do care. He knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep, his body was telling him it was time to get his lazy ass up. With a sigh he got up and used the bathroom. When he returned he threw on some sweats and an old sweatshirt. He grabbed his keys and went for a long run.

When he returned, Tolie was waiting in his living room again. "How do you keep getting in?" Sam asked annoyed. He hated that it had happened once, but twice now? He had checked every window, every possibility for entry into his apartment after last time. Nothing was broken or disturbed.

"It's my talent. Remember?" Tolie smiled.

Sam nodded. He did. As much as it hurt, he let the memories come back to him. Tolie was the unit's entry specialist. He could get into any building any time, any where. Add that to his Special Forces combat training and Tolie very dangerous. Another reason Sam was surprised he was still alive.

Tolie had been friends with Matt before Sam joined the Army. At first there was some friction when Sam and Matt started hanging out a lot together, but Sam had realized it and worked on being Tolie's friend too. After a while, the three of them had been inseparable.

The Three Amigos as they were called. He had been glad Tolie and Matt we're going to be together for the mission. It was an extremely dangerous one deep in a village known to be a terrorist stronghold. He could still hear the order with the coordinates to fire on and the go to fire. He found his bearings and fired before he realized there was a small, embroidered name on the back of the person's vest. It was too late before he realized who he had just shot.

Sam dropped to his knees sobbing. He covered his face with his hands and shook his head as if trying to deny the memory.

Tolie wiped his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Help us Matt, he pleaded. How do we get past this? Give him a new mission. Was the answer. "Sam. I need you. I need your help." Tolie pleaded softly, trying to break through the grief.

Sam heard him. He put a hand down on the bare hardwood and sucked in a breath. Put it away, he thought. He took another ragged breath and struggled for control. He shoved the pain down and willed himself to put the walls back up. After ten minutes, he finally looked up at Tolie. "What do you need?" His voice was steady, but his body was still slumped.

Best to get right to it, Tolie thought. "I need your help locating my little girl Elaina."

"Your little girl? When did you have a kid?" Sam stood and walked to the bathroom to blow his nose.

Tolie waited until Sam came back before he answered. "She's 8 months old. I've been medically discharged for 11 months now." He took a breath and looked at Sam who was standing in the living room in front of him.

Sam sat on the floor, his knees bent and his elbows on his knees. "I didn't know."

"I couldn't do it after-. I know the name of every MP on the base." Tolie gave Sam a slight smile.

Sam nodded. "You always were a bit of a hot head."

"Yeah. I totally lost it. I got so fed up I- well I wandered into the desert to die. I couldn't live after what I saw." He saw Sam put his head down. "When I finally came to my senses and wanted to go back I got stuck in a sandstorm. They say it was the next day, but I couldn't tell you for sure. A unit was out on a mission when the humvee they were in ran over my leg.

There was no way they could've seen me, I was buried under nearly a foot of sand. I was lucky they didn't run over my head, although I wish they had at the time. It compressed my leg and broke it in four places. I'm still doing PT, but I may never walk right again. They kicked me out after that."

"Tolie.." Sam lifted his head.

Tolie put up a hand. "If I hadn't gone to the VA for my leg, if I hadn't gotten a doc who gave a shit and saw that I was hurting and made me see a counselor right after my appointment, I wouldn't be here." He bit his lip. He knew Sam was already hurting and he didn't want to hurt him more. "I don't want to have to ask, but you're the only one that can help me get my baby back."

Sam opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against it. Finally he said, "so you want me to find where her mother took her? What happened between you and the mother?"

"Everything was great until I caught her cheating. I came home one day and she had our next door neighbor in our bed." He looked down at the floor. "I'm not proud of the things I said and did. The guy ended up in the hospital and she got a restraining order. That's why I can't go through the normal channels. If I try to find her I violate the restraining order."

"What are you going to do when you find her?" Sam wasn't so sure about this. He didn't want to do anything illegal and jeopardize his job. Things were just starting to go the right way.

"File for custody. I have to know where she is so I know where to file." Tolie hoped that was a good enough reason. He didn't want to tell him the real reason, but he would if he had to. Braddock owed him big time and it was time to pay up.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam made his way to the barn and walked in the back door. He'd walked the halls a few times to get himself used to the hallways. He knew he could get to the storage room through a back hallway that would keep him out of view of the desk and anyone else. He had to move quickly though, Team Three was out on a call, but they could return anytime.

He made his way through the darkened room and to the cage. He carefully opened it, stuck his arm in and grabbed Spike's laptop. He slowly pulled the laptop out while keeping the doors on his peripherals. He couldn't risk being found, too many questions. He also couldn't risk taking the laptop out of the barn and having to sneak back in to bring it back.

He'd already scoped out a maintenance room in the basement that would give him privacy until he found the info he needed. Sam felt terrible that he was sneaking around the barn. It made him extremely uncomfortable, but he knew it would only be this one thing and that was it. He made his way out of the room and down the hall.

It only took him a few minutes to make it to the basement and to the small room. It was full of chemicals and other supplies needed for cleaning the facility. He sat on a bucket at the back of the closet and behind a bunch of mops and brooms. He was concealed as long as no one walked further into the room.

Sam had to switch to mouth breathing after a minute because the bleach was burning his nose. He tapped on the keyboard and searched for the information. He found the restraining order and looked into the background of the mother, Teresa Alvarez. The court didn't have a forwarding address for Teresa once she disappeared.

Her family had been interviewed after her work reported her missing, but they said that she had not called them. He found that unlikely since Teresa is the only child and so the baby is the first and only grandchild. And why hadn't the family reported her missing? It was more likely that they had helped her disappear.

He channeled Spike and looked through credit card receipts and banking info. There were several transfers from the mother Maria in Hamilton to an account in Mississauga and then in Toronto, a woman named Edie Montoya. He looked her up and found no background info. It had to be her.

He wrote down the address, closed the laptop and carefully traced his steps back to the lockup. He held his breath when he heard Team Three return from the field. Luckily they didn't go into the storage and he was able to slip in, put the laptop back in the exact spot and left. He didn't let his breath go until he was out of sight of the barn.

Tolie paced the floor in Sam's apartment. He'll find her, he thought. If anything, Braddock is thorough. He'll find her. It killed him to not be able to hold his beautiful little girl. From the moment she was born Elaina, named after Teresa's sister who had passed away the year before, had him wrapped around hero little finger.

Her dark brown eyes and curly brown hair made her look just like her mother. She did have his nose, but she was the spitting image of her mom as a baby. Teresa had showed him a picture of her as a baby and compared it to one she took of Elaina in the same position. He had pulled her into a hug and kissed her softly. "Mi hermosas chicas. (My beautiful girls)" he had told her.

He didn't understand what had happened. It had seemed like they were in love. They had a beautiful daughter together. He was going to ask her to marry him. He had thought his life was finally coming together. After everything he went through in the Army, to have so much normalcy was a blessing. When he had talked to his counselor about her, the counselor said he glowed and they had decided to end his sessions.

It had only been a week later that he was back in the counselor's office, mandated by the court. Everything had come crashing down on him. He lost his job at a security company when they found out about him beating Teresa's lover to a pulp. She got a restraining order against him so he couldn't talk to her or see his little girl.

He'd tried a couple times to see Elaina, but Teresa kept calling the cops on him. He'd snuck in twice just to watch his baby sleep and all hell had broken loose when her lover had come out of the bedroom. The man, Juan, had pulled his gun. Tolie had lunged at him and while they were fighting for the gun it had gone off. It had been an accident, he hadn't meant for the gun to go off.

The stupid guy had kept his finger on the trigger while they struggled. Tolie had tried to pry his finger off, but it'd been too late. Luckily, it had hit his thigh and gone straight through to his foot. It hadn't been life threatening. That hadn't kept him from being arrested though. He was able to bail out and had gone into hiding. He followed Teresa from Hamilton to Mississauga where her cousin lives but had lost the trail.

Teresa comes from a big family. Her mother is one of seven and each sibling had between two and eight kids. Now some of those kids were having kids. All of them are spread out from Hamilton north to Vaughan and as far east as Oshawa. It was too big of an area to try to cover and too many people to try to track.

Tolie looked at the clock on the wall. It'd been over an hour since Sam had left to head to 'the barn' as he called it. Tolie had insisted Sam give him his cell in case Sam got any ideas about talking to anyone about what he was doing. He knew Sam. He would've walked on fire if Tolie had asked, anything to try to make up somehow for what Sam had done. As if he could, thought Tolie.

Sam walked into the apartment and looked at Tolie. He looks anxious, he thought. He put his keys on the table next to the door, walked forward and reached into his pocket. When he saw Tolie tense he put up a hand, palm out. He pulled out the piece of paper and handed it to Tolie. "It looks like her mother is sending her money. There wasn't any background info on Edie Montoya so it has to be her."

"Edie. Of course." Tolie closed his eyes for a moment and opened them. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? "It's her middle name and her mom's maiden name. Stupid!" He crumpled the paper and brought it to his forehead.

Sam frowned. I don't know if I like this, he thought. She totally changed her name, why? He'd said he beat up her lover, but why would she be scared enough to do that? What had he just done?

Tolie could see the questions rolling around in Sam's mind. When he didn't hide it, his expressive blue eyes said it all. Damn, he thought. I was hoping I could just ask him to come with me, but it doesn't look like that's a possibility. He's having second thoughts. He reached into his jacket holster and pulled his gun.

"Whoa. What're you-" Sam frowned and put up both hands. Oh shit, I've really done it now.

"I can't risk you going to your teammates about this. And I still need your help. I was just going to ask, but I can see you're having second thoughts. I can't be without her. She's my everything."

"Teresa." Sam said coolly. He should've realized after Tolie talked about her cheating that he was obsessed with her and wanted her back.

"No." He scoffed. "That bitch is going to get what's coming to her and then it's just going to be me and Elaina."


	7. Chapter 7

Oh fuck, Sam thought. Can I get the gun from him? He thought about what kind of moves he could use that Tolie wouldn't be able to counter.

"Don't." Tolie shook his head. He could see Braddock was considering his options. "The only option is to come with me and help me." He frowned at Sam. "What do you think your team would think of you if they knew you were a murderer?"

"I'm a sniper, they know." Sam said evenly. He avoided thinking of it that way, but he was paid to kill.

"No that's the job. But you killed your best friend in cold blood." Tolie spat pointing the gun angrily at him.

Sam went back to that fateful day. It came to him in flashes. He checked in with Matt and Tolie before they had to go silent. "You owe me a beer B." Matt had used their code for, "all clear, see you after." He had snapped to attention when he heard his commander give the coordinates for the next shot and the clear to fire signal.

Aim, squeeze. He looked through his scope and could see a blood spattered person on their knees screaming. That looks like, no it can't be. No no no. He had put his head down, screamed and pounded his fist into the God forsaken desert. When the commander had asked for confirmation he had pulled himself together enough to say, "target down."

"Target down." Sam repeated his eyes unfocused.

Tolie nodded, his hand holding the gun shaking. "Yeah. So now you're going to help me get back the one thing in my life worth living for. Let's go." He could see that Sam was only semi-cognizant. So he stepped forward and grabbed Sam's arm.

The touch brought him back to reality in a rush and Sam shook his head. No, he can't do this. If he does his career is over. Need a way to let someone know. Tolie has my phone. I'll have to find a way to get it from him.

He suddenly remembered his plans with Spike and Lew. Will they really miss him? Will they worry? He knew the team would worry when he didn't show for workout but that was two days away. Shit I'm in deep trouble.

As they reached the door Tolie said, "I'm putting the gun away, but if you resist or try to get away, so help me I will take out your team one by one starting with the pretty brunette."

Sam nodded in understanding. Maybe I can try to delay him somehow. To put him off for two days was going to be tough.

They walked to Tolie's rental parked behind Sam's building. Tolie opened the trunk and had Sam sit in it. When Sam tried to tell him it wasn't necessary, Tolie had punched him in the face hard knocking Sam out. He tied Sam's arms and legs and put a black hood over his face. He laid Sam down in the trunk and closed it.

This'll make it easier, he thought. He drove out of the city, took a country road a few miles out to an old abandoned two story house. He pulled up the drive and drove on the lawn to the back of the house, just in case. He got out and looked at the house. Every room has windows, so what was he going to do with Braddock? He had to hope that his threat to take out his team was motivation enough. He knew another soft spot if that didn't work.

Sam felt someone slapping his face and recoiled. He opened his eyes and focused angry eyes on Tolie. His arms and legs were already unbound so he sat up. "What the hell? I told you I'd cooperate." Sam put a hand to his face and moved his jaw gingerly. It was really sore where Tolie had hit him and he had a hell of a headache. Man, he still hits hard, Sam thought.

Thier first and only fight had been pretty ugly. Tolie had accused Sam of stealing his girlfriend, a woman working in the Middle East as part of the reconstruction efforts. Sam completely denied it. He'd seen the woman fall and helped her up. That was it. Someone had seen him holding her in his arms and made assumptions. She had hugged him to thank him.

Their yelling had quickly turned to fisticuffs. Tolie had some good bruises, but Sam had to have stitches in his head, a split lip and had a giant black eye. It was lucky Matt and a few others from the unit had been there or it could've been worse.

"It's better this way anyway." Tolie motioned him to follow. They walked up the steps of the wraparound porch and entered into the rear of the house. It was old and poorly maintaIned, but with a little work it could be really beautiful.

Sam looked around. They had entered into the living room. To the left through an arched doorway was the dining room. They walked forward towards the front of the house. There was a bedroom with a bathroom next to the living room and on the left side was a small kitchen with the stairs to the upstairs between the dining room and kitchen.

They walked upstairs and found three more bedrooms including a master with it's own bathroom and another bathroom between the two smaller bedrooms. Sam stopped in the doorway of one of the smaller bedrooms. One was decorated top to bottom with pink and had a beautiful white crib draped with a pink blanket. A rocker sat empty in the corner.

"I hope she likes it." Tolie said from behind Sam.

"So you're planning to raise her here?"

"Yep. It's a great house isn't it? I'm planning on turning the other room into a playroom for her. The whole place needs fixing up, but I'll have plenty of time. I just started getting my pension from the Army. We can live on that until I can find another job." Tolie gushed.

Sam turned and looked at him. He sounded so excited about his future with his daughter, but reality may not live up to his expectations. He made it sound like Teresa would be out of the picture. If he killed her, how was he going to live here? The police would be after him, Sam and his team would be after him. Maybe. It was a big risk to involve them.

He knew Tolie was capable of carrying out his threats. He could tell the team about Matt and then what? Would they go back to shunning him? Could they live with knowing his secret? Would they see him as nothing but a killer? A horrible person? Or worse, he knew Tolie could kill each of them, including their families. Could he live with that? There was no way.

"Well, I've stocked the fridge and the cupboards so let's go find something to eat." He put a hand on Sam's shoulder and felt him stiffen. "You do what you're supposed to and this will all be over soon." Tolie said into his ear, patted Sam's shoulder and headed down the stairs.

When Tolie turned and walked down the stairs, Sam could see his cell phone sticking out of Tolie's pocket. He looked at his watch, he wouldn't be missed for several more hours. I have to stall.

##### Spike's house, 1330 hrs #####

Spike had just finished lunch with his parents and was cleaning up the dishes when his cell rang. He smiled at the famiar number. "Yellow?"

"Magenta." Lew laughed.

Spike looked at his phone and then put it back to his ear. "Magenta? I think Wordy is rubbing off on you." He laughed as he rinsed dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

"Rinse them first Mikey!" Maria Scarlotti called from the dining room.

"I am Ma!" He called back to her.

"I don't think it's a bad thing." Lew said as he pulled up outside Spike's house.

"Rinsing? I don't know why she says that every time. I always do it." Spike finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher, put in the soap, closed the door and turned it on. He stood and looked out the kitchen window, noticing the familiar car parked out front.

"What? No I am meant Wordy man." Lew laughed. He looked at the house and saw Spike looking at him through the window and waved. "So what do you say we kill some time until moviefest pig out?"

"Sure! What'd you have in mind buddy?" Spike left the kitchen and started to climb the stairs. If he was right, he was going to need to change and grab some of his play gear.

"Well I already talked the others into paintball and Jules is already in the car with me.. "Hi Spike!" Jules called. Lew smiled and said, "so should I ask your Ma if you can come out and play?" Jules giggled in the background.

"Sounds good." Spike smiled. He was already putting his paintball gear into a bag. He loved when he and Lew thought alike. "Hang on," he put the phone away from his face and yelled, "Hey Ma! Lew and Jules want to know if I can come out and play!"

"As long as you're back before supper time!" Maria yelled back chuckling. She loved her son's sense of humor.

Lew held the phone out so Jules could hear. They were in hysterics when Spike got back on the line.

"Gotta be back before dark." Spike said solemnly.

"Not a problem." Lew laughed. "Hey, I tried to call Sam but there wasn't any answer." He put the phone back to his ear and said, a little worry in his voice.

"Huh. I'll try him. I'll be out in a minute." Spike said. He dialed Sam's landline and got his automated message. He left a message, hung up and dialed his cell. It went straight to voicemail. Weird, Spike thought. Maybe he's busy, or getting busy and doesn't want to be disturbed. He pocketed his cell, grabbed his bag, walked out of the house and to the car.

By the time he got to the car, Jules had climbed into the back. She was so small it was easy for her to climb between the two seats to the back instead of getting out, putting the seat down and then getting into the back. Spike loved Lew's midnight blue, mint condition '72 Charger. It was a project car for Lew and his Dad and had brought them even closer together while they worked on it.

"Jules, you could've stayed up front." Spike looked in the back seat at her.

"No big." She shrugged and put a hand out for his bag.

He handed her the bag and then climbed in. He looked at Lew. "I tried both of his numbers. No answer. His cell went right to voicemail. Must be busy." Spike wiggled his eyebrows.

Lew laughed and said, "busy getting busy. Lucky." He saw Jules roll her eyes in the mirror. "You don't think so Jules?"

She scoffed and said, "that's all you guys think about."

"Hey, we are two young, single guys. Of course that's what we think about." Spike looked back at her.

"You have to think about it all the time if you aren't doin' it." Jules smiled and cocked her head at him.

"Oh!" Spike and Lew looked at each other, their faces dropped in surprise.

"Nice!" Lew grinned at her in the mirror as she and Spike bumped fists. He started the car and it roared to life.


	8. Chapter 8

Greg, Ed and Wordy were standing together in the parking lot when Lew pulled into the lot and stopped next to them revving the engine.

Ed bent over and smiled at them. "Hey guys."

Spike smiled as Lew took off and pulled into a spot not far away.

When the three joined the others, Wordy frowned and said, "no Sam?"

"Lew and I both tried to call him, but no luck on his home or cell lines." Spike shrugged. He didn't repeat what he said in the car.

Ed frowned but dismissed it. They were on days off, it's not like he had to spend every second with the team. He'd try to call after they were done paintball.

The group walked into the reception area taking bets who was going to win and back out three hours later laughing and talking about Jules' triumph over the day. They had played three games, pairs, two groups of three and then individual. Every group that Jules was in they won and she had been the individual winner as well. Although it was meant with love, Spike and Lew complained that she was smaller and able to fit into better hiding spots which was an unfair advantage.

Jules laughed at the comment, thinking of when she was paired with Wordy and had taken Lew and Spike out from a hollowed out log. "Jealous." She smiled. "It's not my fault you didn't check the log."

"Yeah but you didn't have to shoot me in the ass." Spike rubbed his butt which was still sore. That got them all howling with laughter.

Ed stepped to the side and tried Sam's home number, no answer so he left a message. He hung up and tried his cell, straight to voicemail. "Hey Sam it's Ed. Just wanted to check in. A couple of us have tried to contact you with no luck. Don't want to bother you if you're busy, but give one of a yell would ya? Bye."

##### house in the woods #####

Sam heard his phone ring once and then ding a minute later indicating he had a voice mail. He looked up from the couch to Tolie who had fallen asleep in the recliner. He could see his phone sticking out of Tolie's pocket, but he wasn't so sure he could get to it without waking Toile. That was the third call today. It could only be the team, he couldn't imagine the General would be calling.

That thought made him smile, but it was also surprising. Why would they be calling him on days off? They never called. Unless he'd screwed something up again. Maybe it was Spike or Lew telling him that their moviefest pig out thing had been cancelled. Be alone, it's what you deserve, he thought. You've screwed up people's lives, it's about time you did something to try to fix it. He looked down and then at the TV trying to make himself interested.

Tolie wasn't letting him in on the plan, just that they were doing it tomorrow. He hoped there would be an opportunity to get a message to someone soon.

##### parking lot of paintball course #####

"No answer?" Wordy frowned. He had stopped and waited while Ed make his call.

"No." Ed looked at Wordy. It wasn't unusual for them to not see or talk to Sam during days off. They hadn't so far, but they each had become aware of the distance between Sam and the team. Ed knew he was hard on the kid. He's talked to Sophie about it. She had gently reminded him that it's probably because they are both a little pig-headed and thought their way was the right way. He just needed to give Sam a chance. Sure he had messed up a few times, but didn't they all?

"What do you think?" Wordy asked as they walked.

"I don't know. I mean, it's kind of odd, but this is the first time we've called him on days off." Ed looked at Wordy with guilt in his eyes.

"I know." Wordy said with disappointment. "Shelly wants me to invite him over and gave me crap for not thinking of it first. When I look back at the last couple weeks-" Guilt filled him as he spoke.

"We haven't been very welcoming to him." Ed put his head down. "Especially me."

Wordy put a hand on his back. "So we fix it. It's not too late."

Ed nodded. He hoped Wordy was right.

"He's probably at my house waiting for us." Spike said after Ed told them he'd left a message for Sam.

They said their goodbyes and piled into their cars.

Spike turned to Jules in the back seat. "You need to stop anywhere before moviefest pig out?"

Jules smiled. She hoped they had picked some decent movies this time. Spike had a weird taste in movies and for some reason Lew always let him pick. "Do you have pork rinds?"

"Check." Lew said. "Ridgie chips and dip, tortilla chips and salsa."

"I got an assortment of chocolate and candy. Oh and my mom is making aquacotta and a bunch of other stuff." Spike looked back and forth between them excitedly.

"You got beer?" Jules asked.

Spike shook his head. "BYOB."

Jules looked at Lew in the rearview who nodded and pulled into the next convenience store.

When they arrived at Spike's house, it was nearly five. Sam's bike was nowhere to be seen as well as his car.

"Huh." Spike said disappointed. "Do you think he got sick of waiting?" He went to the back of the car to help Lew with his bags.

Lew shrugged. "Must be. I hope he isn't mad." He grabbed a bag and let Spike grab the other one before he closed the trunk.

Jules was standing next to them. "Maybe he put his bike out back and is waiting inside." She raised an eyebrow at them.

Spike and Lew looked at each other and they walked inside. When they found the living room empty, Spike walked into the kitchen where he knew his momma would always be. "Hi Ma." He kissed her cheek. "Did my teammate Sam stop by?"

"No. No one stopped by. Are Jules and Lew here?"

"Yeah." Spike closed his eyes and stuck his nose over the boiling pot. "Mmm. Smells good as always." He put a hand on her back and smiled.

"Of course it does." She smiled. "Now scoot." She patted his bum like she'd done since he was a child and shooed him out of the kitchen.

"She hasn't seen him." Spike said as he walked into the living room just as Jules was just hanging up her phone.

"No answer on either line." Jules looked at them. "Maybe he forgot and went out of town or something." She was starting to get a little worried. He didn't seem like the type to forget something or blow people off, but maybe he was. Maybe he had gotten sick of their treatment and decided to leave town for a few days. Get away from it all.

"Maybe." Spike pulled out his phone and left a message on Sam's cell, "hey it's Spike again. We just got to my house and I guess maybe we missed you or? We ran late from paintball. Sorry man. I hope you aren't mad. Give me a call when you get this ok? Ok, bye." He put his phone away, walked to the couch and sat down between Lew and Jules.

"So what's up first?" Jules asked opening the chips and dip.

"The Amityville Horror." Spike picked up the box and went to the machine to put it in.

Oh brother, Jules thought then chuckled internally at the double meaning. She hoped that Sam would call them back. She hated watching scary movies without someone she could use as a shield and she really wanted that to be Sam. Where had that come from, she thought. He is kinda cute though and I like the way he tries to hide his eyes when I look at him. Like I can't see what he's thinking in those blue eyes of his. She shook herself and concentrated on the movie while in the back of her mind she hoped Sam was ok.


	9. Chapter 9

##### SRU HQ, Thursday 0730 hrs #####

Sergeant Ken Waters was sitting in the briefing room with his TL Tony and waiting for the rest of the team to come from the locker room for the day's briefing.

Commander Holleran walked in and straight to Ken and Tony. "We have a situation." He dropped a file on the table which Ken immediately opened. "We need to talk to Constable Braddock ASAP. I had Kira call him this morning, but no answer."

Ken looked up from the file. "Someone redacted the crap out of this file. It reads like alphabet soup. Anything we should know?"

Holleran took a breath, he knew a lot about Sam, more than most knew about his godson. "Just that Sam was in the same JTF2 unit with Jason Toliford, nickname Tolie and may have some insight into where he might be."

Tony nodded as he read about Jason Toliford and his recent run in with the law. He'd bailed out of jail after beating up his girlfriend's lover and disappeared. He was believed to be in Toronto looking for his girlfriend and baby daughter. They had a bench warrant for his arrest because he missed his court date. He looked at Ken and grabbed his phone.

Holleran motioned to Ken to follow him. "This is a delicate situation. Don't push Sam for more info than you need. There's a reason so much is redacted from the file."

"But if it's vital to knowing how to deal with Tolison-." Ken put a hand up.

"Just go careful Sergeant." Halloren stated and walked away.

Ken blinked after him and walked back into the briefing room just as Tony was getting off the phone and Eric, Gene, Tom and Ken joined them. "Any luck?" He tipped his chin at Tony.

"No. I spoke to Sergeant Parker and he hasn't heard from Sam. He said they tried to call him yesterday and got no answer. He's going to call Ed and head over to his house. They'll let us know. I apprised him of the situation." Tony sat back down at the table.

"Ok gents. This is what we have…" A picture of Tolison, his girlfriend and their daughter were on the screen behind Ken. He read off the information on the warrant and the file. He let them know they'd be waiting for intel from Constable Braddock before they served the warrant. When he was found.

"Greg said it wasn't odd that they didn't hear from him on days off. He often would spend it away. He did say it was unusual that Sam hadn't returned their calls so he was pretty worried. We don't know for sure," he paused and looked at Ken, "but given their history together, Tolison may have involved Sam somehow or Sam's in trouble." He looked at each of them.

"We'll run these other warrants today in between hot calls, but if Team One needs our help to find Sam we'll assist anyway we can." Ken said with finality. They would come to the aid of a brother any time day or night.

Five people answered, "copy that."

##### Sam's apartment 0830 hrs #####

"Sam! Wake up!" Greg pounded on the door desperately.

"I doubt he's still sleeping." Ed said from Greg's side at the door. "Years of military training, you're up and going at sunrise if not before." He said when Greg looked at him.

"C'mon Sam. We need to talk to you." Greg yelled.

A neighbor, an older man with a small yappy dog at his feet walked into the hallway. "Keep it down will ya? People are still sleeping."

"Sorry Sir." Ed said and was immediately reminded of Sam's automated responses to his criticism. Never talked back, just sat or stood there and took it without flinching with a, "yes Sir. Sorry Sir. Won't happen again Sir." Accepting that he'd done wrong and whatever ass reaming he was given whether he was really wrong or not. God I hope he's ok, he thought.

"Do you know the guy that lives here?" Greg pointed to Sam's door.

"Yeah. Nice kid. He helps me with things around the house I can't do like change light bulbs in the ceiling fans. Arthritis, you know. Plus I'm no good with heights." The man smiled at the two men.

Ed smiled at the man. "Well that's nice of him."

"Yep. Good kid. Always so sad though, never has visitors." He looked at them warily. "I invite him over sometimes just to visit. We play chess. He's pretty good."

"Have you seen him the last couple days?" Greg asked. His rook seemed to be quite the young man. Helping out a neighbor and spending time with him. He didn't like hearing that Sam seemed so sad and lonely. His guilt grew for his treatment of Sam up until now. Why hadn't he seen it?

"Last time I saw him was, uh, Tuesday night. Sounded like he either had a visitor or was talking to himself. I heard him come down the hall, I can always hear him the kid walks like an elephant, and I went out to say hi, but he was talking to someone in the apartment and then closed the door."

Ed smiled at the thought of Sam walking like an elephant. It was obviously something he did for his neighbors benefit. It was unlikely you'd hear a Special Forces guy coming if they didn't want you to. Ed looked at Greg. A visitor? When you just said no one visits?

"Do you remember if it was a male or female voice?" Greg asked excitedly.

"Deep male voice."

"But you didn't see or hear anyone go into his apartment before Sam came home?" Greg stepped closer to the man.

"Nope. Mr. Tinkles usually barks when he hears someone he doesn't know and he didn't bark." He scooped up the little dog and rubbed his chin. "Isn't that right Mr. Tinkles my fearsome guard dog?" The dog closed his eyes and licked his owner's face. "Yes it is." He baby talked.

"Tolie?" Ed looked at Greg, fear in his eyes.

"Maybe. Seems like a big coincidence if it were someone else." Greg mirrored his fear. He turned to the neighbor and said, "thank you Mister.."

"Peterson. Tell Sam that I have the chessboard ready for him when you see him."

"We will. Is there anything else you can tell us? Did you see Sam or anyone leave?" Greg asked tamping down a bad feeling.

"I don't think so. I thought I heard some people talking outside my bedroom window, but by the time I got there to look whoever it was had driven off. It was empty." He patted the dog's head. "Is Sam in trouble?"

"We hope not. Did you see the car leave?" Ed probed.

"No. The alley was empty. There was only a bit of rope on the ground."

"Rope?" Ed looked at Greg and they moved down the hall towards Mr. Peterson.

"Thank you Mr. Peterson." Greg smiled at him as they passed.

"I hope Sam is ok." He called after them before he went back into his apartment.

Greg and Ed hurried down the stairs next to Mr. Peterson's apartment to the ground floor. When they reached the alley, Greg looked up at the window three stories up. "That must be his window."

"And this is the rope." Ed took out a winter glove from his pocket and put it on before handling the rope. He put a gloved finger down and touched the drops on the ground. When he picked up his glove and saw the Crimson on his glove his heart stopped. Blood. They wouldn't know for sure until they tested it, but someone was taken from this alley. He showed Greg his glove. "Blood."

"We can't jump to conclusions Eddie. That may not be Sam's.

Ed stood and said, "I know, but the neighbor heard him talking to a male, then a car took off from this alley, there's blood and a piece of rope. We haven't heard from him in over 24 hours. He's not returning our calls." Ed ticked off the points on his ungloved hand.

"We better call the team. I'll call Halloren." Greg pulled his phone and made the call to Halloren, then Spike and Lew.

Ed got off the phone and turned to Greg. "Wordy and Jules are on their way in."

"Good. Halloren said that Team Two just went out on a hot call, but he's had Kira trying to get a hold of Sam with no luck. He's very worried. They have a warrant for Jason Toliford and wanted to talk to Sam before they served it because he and Sam were in JTF2 together." Greg informed him.

"Toliford? Tolie? The guy that stopped Sam outside the SRU the other day?" Ed looked at him incredulously. What had Sam gotten involved in? Was he helping a criminal?

Understanding lighted in Greg's eyes. "He was so agitated when he saw Tolie at the barn. He didn't want us to know the guy was here, but why?" Greg started asking himself question he knew could be dangerous. Was Sam trying to hide some side thing he had going on with that guy? Was he helping him do something illegal? Why was there an arrest warrant for this guy Tolie? Sam had some major explaining to do, once they found him.

Ed shook his head. "We need some answers." They climbed into Greg's car and headed to the barn, the rope and glove in a plastic bag Greg had in his car.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: For those reading this story for the first time, please skip this note. For those that have been reading, sorry for the confusion. I suddenly realized I had more chapters written than posted. Sorry for the confusion!**

##### house in the woods, Thursday #####

Sam was up at 0400 as usual and was restless. He desperately wanted to go for a run, but he knew Tolie would never let him out of his sight. He laid on the floor and started doing sit ups. After 100, flipped over and did 100 push ups. He looked at the clock, 0430. He stood and looked out the window, the itch to run becoming a burning when he saw how nice of a day it was already. He put on his sneakers and sweatshirt and walked quietly through the house. He could her Tolie snoring through the wooden door to the master bedroom.

He walked outside and stretched his muscles readying them. He was going to run whether Tolie liked it or not. He started out slowly, but increased his pace after three trips around the house. After his fourth trip around, he detoured and followed the tree line around the property making a half mile loop.

While he ran he considered his options. The phone had rung and beeped several times last night. He silently hoped that the team was getting worried and would start looking for him. When he had used the laptop he made sure to leave a trail for Spike to follow. He knew Spike was very smart and tech savvy so he would see that a search had been run and trace it.

The problem was the current predicament. They didn't know that he was out here in the middle of nowhere. And, he didn't know Tolie's full plan. He figured they were going to at least stake out the address he found and verify it was Teresa. If it is, he knew it could get very bad. Especially if Tolie wanted revenge on her for cheating and taking his child away. The trail he left for Spike would lead him to Teresa.

It was most likely they would go to Teresa and take her into protective custody at that point. Get her and the child out of harm's way. Tolie would be very angry if they showed up at the house and Teresa and Elaina were gone. Tolie would be very careful about entering her house. He wouldn't fall for a decoy. No, they'd have to at least have Teresa seen in the home. But the team wouldn't know Tolie is ex-JTF2.

If it went sideways, he knew Tolie would make good on his threat to the team. What a mess he'd gotten himself into. What if they thought he was involved? Would they believe him when he told them? Could he tell them? He didn't know if he could. He'd have to tell them about Matty. Oh how they'd look at him then. They'd never trust him. Matt had trusted him and Sam had killed him. Would the team still believe he had their backs and not a target on their backs?

They'd have to be sure to capture Tolie. If he got away.. Sam shuddered at the thought. As he made another loop past the house, Tolie appeared on the back porch. Sam stopped at the porch.

"Don't you ever sleep in?" Tolie grumbled.

"No. Off the rack at 0400 for a run, no exceptions." Sam shrugged.

Tolie tapped his cane on the floorboards. "Well maybe one." He smiled cynically. The first month after he got out he barely slept so he was working out to keep himself busy. Then he'd met Teresa. He learned the value of sleeping in and just holding her close. He still did workouts and pt, but he had other things to occupy his mind and time.

Sam nodded. Everything came back to that didn't it? "What's the plan Tolie? We go stake out the house, make sure it's her and that's it right? You file for custody here and I go."

"Forever the planner and strategizer." Tolie smiled and shook his head. "When I want you to know, you'll know. Now take this and bury it somewhere." He threw Sam his phone. "I'm sick of listening to it's incessant noise."

Sam kept his face passive and nodded. Did Tolie just give him an opening? He had to think quick. What could he text quickly that would tell them they had to use Teresa as bait. Would they do it? He knew Ed would say it's too risky, but if they didn't, Tolie would know and they wouldn't catch him. Who knew what would happen then. He started to jog to cool off and heard Tolie say behind him, "you've already been running for 3 hours. Just bury it and get in here."

"Ok." Sam made sure to keep his back to Tolie while he flipped open the phone. He punched in Ed's number and texted, "Must use Teresa as bait. Set trap. I am ok." He hit send and prayed that Ed would listen to him for once.

##### Greg's car on the way to SRU HQ #####

Ed heard his phone chirp indicating a text incoming. He looked at Greg and pulled out his phone. It was from Sam. "It's Sam." Ed read the text to Greg.

"Who's Teresa? Set trap? What is going on?" Greg asked confused.

"I don't know. Hopefully Ken and Team Two have some answers." Ed frowned at the message. "Greg, why would he send it to me? Why not you? You're the leader."

"I was just thinking the same thing." He looked at Ed. The message was meant specifically for Ed. Realization dawned on him. "Eddie, would you ever use an intended target as bait to catch a subject?"

"What? No of course not! You know better…" Ed realized why Sam sent it to him. "And so does Sam. He knows I wouldn't do that but for some reason he's telling us we have to."


	11. Chapter 11

##### SRU HQ, Thursday 1000 hrs #####

Greg and Ed walked into the briefing room and stood by the table. Between the two teams, all of the other seats were taken. Ken nodded at them as they entered and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "So here's what we know so far. We have a warrant for the arrest of Jason Tolison, AKA Tolie."

"Tolie? That's the name of the guy-" Wordy sat up when he heard the name.

Greg put a hand up. "We'll get to that Wordy."

"Sorry Ken." Wordy sat back in his chair, agitated.

Spike whispered, "where is Sam?" Wordy shrugged in answer.

"It's ok Wordy. I understand. We wanted to speak to Sam about Tolie because they were in JTF2 together, but as you can see he is not here." Everyone looked around and murmured their surprise. "Tolie was arrested in Mississauga for beating his girlfriend's lover to a pulp. He caught them together. He made bail but disappeared. We believe his girlfriend is here in Toronto and our sources say so is he."

"What sources?" Tony asked.

"A CI of ours. So far, all we know is that Sam is missing. We don't know if he went somewhere for-" Ken stated.

Greg cleared his their to interrupt. "Sorry Ken, but Ed got a text from Sam on our way here."

"Is he ok?" Wordy sat up in his chair.

"Where is he?" Spike scowled.

"What happened?" Lew asked.

"Easy guys." Greg put up a calming hand. "Ed?" He looked at Ed who read the text to them.

"Use Teresa as bait? Is he crazy?" Gene asked.

"I don't get it. Why would he tell us to set a trap using Teresa when he knows that's against protocol?" Spike looked questioningly at Greg, then Wordy.

"You said he sent it to you Ed? Not Sarge or anyone else." Wordy looked at Ed and could see he was already ahead of him.

"Because Sam knows it's against protocol." Understanding lighted Lew's face. "He knew if he sent that to any of us we'd float the idea but probably not do it. He had to send it to Ed."

When the members of Team Two looked confused, Jules explained, "Sam and Ed have been butting heads. Some of Sam's ideas have been too risky. He knows that Ed will think this is too risky, he's asking Ed to trust him. For us to trust him." Jules felt a little pang in her heart. It was a brave move for him to ask this, especially after the way the team had treated him.

Ed nodded. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from tearing up. This was a huge step for the team and for him and Sam. An olive branch of sorts. "Spike?" He looked at Spike, his eyes filled with his swirling emotions.

Spike nodded. "Have we located Teresa?"

Tom, Team Two's tech guy said, "no. I've tried but there isn't any record of her here. Her family isn't talking."

Spike jumped up and ran to the storage room and opened the cage. His laptop was in there, but it had moved. He chalked it up to Team Two being in there to grab stuff and brought the laptop back to the briefing room. He opened it and logged in. After a few minutes he found a log of a search that was run yesterday. Who ran a search on his laptop? He followed the source back and saw it was done from inside the SRU. Had someone broken in and wasn't seen? How was that possible?

"What's the matter Spike?" Greg saw the big question mark on Spike's face.

"Someone ran a search on my computer yesterday. Who could've-" Spike stopped. Of course. He tapped furiously on the keyboard. Bread crumb, bread crumb. Oh Sam you little devil, he thought and smiled. He looked up and everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Sam used my computer." He shook his head. "He did a search in the background of our server so it wouldn't be noticed, but he left me little info breadcrumbs so I could see what he did."

Tom looked over Spike's shoulder and pointed to the screen. "What's that? Oh."

Spike looked at him with pride. "Breadcrumb." He couldn't believe Sam did this. So cool, he thought. "Ok, here it is. Sam found Teresa through her mom. Her mom has been transferring money to the First National Bank here in Toronto under the name Edie Montoya. He didn't find any background info on Edie so it must be our girl. He found her address which means Tolie has it. Sam's idea is looking better and better. We need to get to Teresa." He looked up and met gazes with Greg.

"Ok. We need a plan. Ken you good with Team One joining you?" Greg looked at Ken. They need to be there. Sam needs his team.

"Didn't think I could keep you away." Ken gave him a lopsided smile.

Spike pulled up a map of Teresa's house and schematic of the inside. The teams started to form a plan for later in the afternoon. Team Four would provide coverage.

##### house in the woods 1230 hrs #####

Sam was bored. So far all they'd done was sleep, eat and watch TV. The adventurous outdoorsman in him wanted to, at least, go for a walk in the woods. He sat on the couch looking longingly out the window when Tolie walked into the living room carrying a box.

Tolie set the box down in front of Sam on the coffee table. When Sam sat up to look inside, Tolie said, "supplies for tonight."

Sam's heart stopped when he saw what was inside. Two guns, gloves, masking tape and a couple black garbage bag. So his intent is to kill her and just take the baby, he thought. He looked at Tolie, panic in his eyes. "Tolie I can't do this. I can't be a part of this." He stood and walked to the other side of the couch. "I'd be an accessory to murder. I'd lose everything. My job, my life."

"Please." Tolie scoffed. "I watched you, you don't have a life. You go to work you run, you sleep and eat. That's it. It's pathetic. And who cares about your job? They don't care about you! All they do is second guess you and treat you like shit." He spat.

Sam started remembering all the times he walked loudly just so Mr. Peterson would hear him and invite him to visit. He had thought of it as keeping the old guy company, but he could see now it was more for his benefit as well. He thought about all those nights he spent alone, all the days off when he would go hike in the woods for two to three days, keeping his primitive survival skills sharp.

He wondered how long Tolie had watched him at work. Tolie wasn't wrong, he didn't fit in with them. They had not been welcoming to him at all, but he felt like maybe lately they had turned a corner. Spike had invited him to their moviefest pig out. Wordy had asked if he was ok. He wanted to, no had to he corrected himself, believe that they cared.

It had been hard for him to hit send after he typed the text. It was a big risk. Would they believe him? Could they trust that he knows that is the only way? Will they trust him? That was the big question. So far, they hadn't.

"Your only friend in the world is dead because YOU killed him!" Tolie's rant pulled Sam out of his thoughts. "Look at you, standing there looking all sad and lost. When the fuck did you get so pathetic?"

Sam turned cold blue eyes on him. "Enough." It was all Sam could say. He already knew his life was pathetic, he didn't need Tolie pointing it out. So many times he'd had that pistol in his hand. It was times like this that he wished he'd had the guts to pull the trigger.

"Listen you poor excuse for a soldier, you WILL help me with this or I will make sure you and your so-called team suffer. Then, I'll find Natalie." He grinned evilly at the murderous look that crossed Sam's face. "Oh yeah. We'll have some fun, then I'll kill her. Hell, I'll make you watch."

Sam clenched and unclenched his fists, his breath ragged. Even if it took everything he had, Tolie would never touch his sister. "Fine." He said finally.

"Good." Tolie smiled. "Now relax. We have four hours to wait until she gets home from work."

Sam nodded. He turned, went upstairs and into the bathroom. He went to the window by the toilet and pulled his cell from his underwear. As he punched in Ed's number he wondered for the umpteenth time if they would trust him. He texted, "1630 go time. 2 glocks." He paused a second before hitting send. Stop it, he thought. They'll be there, they'll trust me. Oh please let them trust me.

He quietly opened the window and chucked his phone into the backyard. He closed the window and flushed the toilet. He took a mental picture of where the phone landed so he could find it later. It'd been a risk to hide the phone, but now that they got the message he had to get rid of it. If Tolie decided to search him, who knows what he'd do if he found it. It's in your hands now team, he thought. Trust me.


	12. Chapter 12

Ed's phone chirped. He pulled it out and looked at it. "Just got a text from Sam. 1630 go time. 2 glocks." Ed looked up at Greg. Team Two had been called out on a hot call, so he had been able to sit next to Greg at the head of the table. He stuck out his arm and looked at his watch, 1300.

"Two guns in play." Jules said. "Luckily one of those is on our side." We hope, she thought. It didn't make sense if he was in on it and giving them help so she pushed that thought out of her mind.

Spike nodded. He looked up when he had what they needed. "I found her workplace. We just need to go get her and make sure the daughter is safe."

"Good work Spike." Greg smiled.

"What if he's watching her work?" Wordy asked.

"I don't think so. Sam would've told us somehow." Greg shook his head. They couldn't start second guessing Sam and their plan now. "Let's go."

They all stood and headed to their vehicles. They had geared up after the plan had been made. Not wanting to make a scene, they pulled up to the coffee house like any normal person. It was already a spectacle to see them with their gear on and carrying guns. Ed, Greg and Lew entered the front while Spike and Wordy entered through the back and Jules covered the back door.

Greg walked up to the manager who was gawking at them. "Hi,I'm Greg Parker from the Strategic Response Unit. Is Edie Montoya working today?"

Edie had stepped into the kitchen when she saw the police enter the cafe. Her heart was going a mile a minute when she heard them ask for her. She took a step back and slid her hand along the counter. It knocked against a stack of four plates and knocked them to the ground, shattering them into a million pieces.

Wordy saw the dark haired woman back up into view and knock the plates over. He signaled to Spike and they stayed hidden.

Greg heard the noise and called out. "Edie? We need to talk to you."

He found us, oh god he found us, she thought frantically. I have to go get Elaina. She turned and started to run towards the back door but two men stood and put their hands out.

"Hold on. We need to talk to you." Wordy said in his commanding but gentle voice. "We're here to help you."

"I have to go. Please. I have to get my daughter." She pleaded in her Spanish accent, her eyes wild.

"Boss, We're with Edie." Wordy said into his headset.

"Copy. Get her to the barn." Greg gave a little sigh of relief and thanked the manager for her help. He, Ed and Lew stayed out front waiting.

"Is your daughter somewhere safe?" Spike asked.

"Yes she's with my cousin Alissa." She looked back and forth between them.

"We need the address and we need you to call her. Tell her we're going to send a patrol car there. They are to let him and him only into the house. It's for their protection." Spike told her, seriousness in his eyes.

"He's here isn't he?" The tears welled and spilled from her eyes. She covered her face.

"It's ok." Wordy put a hand on her shoulder. "That's why we're here. C'mon. We need you to come with us. We need your help." Once she nodded they steered her to the SUV and Jules waiting at the back. "On the move." Wordy said as their car took off towards the barn.

Greg nodded, looked at Lew and Ed and they headed to their SUV. They had been watching the people in the diner and none of them looked suspicious.

When they got back to the barn, they brought Teresa into the debriefing room and let her pick a seat. She took the seat next to the head of the table where Greg sat. Jules sat on her other side with Spike next to her. Wordy, Ed and Lew sat on the other side.

"Teresa, how was your cousin?" Greg asked. He could see she wanted to run. Fight or Flight had kicked in and she wanted flight, very badly.

"Sh- she was ok, I guess. Scared. I told her that Jason was in town so she's pretty freaked." Teresa was shaking. She wasn't so sure anyone could protect her from Jason's rage. He told her a little bit about his time in JTF2, so she knew he could be dangerous. He'd already proven that the night he found her and Juan together.

She hadn't meant for it to happen. It'd been a particularly hard day. Jason was out all day looking for a job and Elaina had started to cut her first tooth. She was crying incessantly. The night before she and Jason had had a fight about money. When her neighbor Juan had stopped by that day because he heard the baby, she had taken solace in him.

It wasn't like he was some stranger. She'd seen him around and they'd talked a few times in the laundry room of their building. She was definitely attracted to him. Who wouldn't be with his rugged good looks, long flowing locks and soft brown eyes? He had hugged her and held her while she cried. When she finally pulled back there was an electricity between them. He kissed her and her heart had done backflips. One thing had lead to another which led them to the bedroom.

She had a pang of regret afterwards, especially after Jason came home and interrupted their second round. Jason had flown into a rage and beat Juan to a bloody pulp. That wasn't an exaggeration, the docs at the ER said that Juan had been lucky to survive. Luckily a neighbor had called 911 when they heard her screaming and the police had gotten there before Jason had gotten his hands on her.

The restraining order hadn't been enough to keep Jason away after he bailed out of jail. He showed up at her house at all times of the night and day begging to see his daughter. She had begged too. She told him she was sorry, but it was over and pleaded for him to leave them alone. The night that she caught him inside the house standing in their daughter's room watching her sleep was the final straw. She'd been running ever since.

"I'll bet." Greg nodded. "I'm sure you told her about Jason Tolison. That would scare anyone." He gave her a sympathetic look.

"I didn't know. He seemed ok. Sometimes we'd have bad arguments, especially after the baby was born. It put a strain on us financially. He got a job as a security officer but it didn't pay well. He was always telling me to get a better job. I'm going to school part time to be a nurse, but taking care of Elaina plus working…" She started to cry and Jules put a hand on her back and handed her the tissues passed down the table from Spike.

"That's a lot to take on." Greg agreed. "I know it's been hard Teresa and you've been on the run for awhile, but the good news is that we have an arrest warrant for Jason because he missed his court date for the assault."

"I need to pick up my daughter then so you can protect both of us." Teresa stood but sat back down when Greg put a hand on your arm.

Greg took a breath. This was the hard part. "We need you to stay with us. We need your help."

Teresa frowned. "How can I help?"

"We need you to go to your house and wait for Jason to show up." Greg said.

"What? Are you crazy?" She looked at each of them and saw the seriousness in their eyes. "My god, you're serious. You want me to be bait. You know, in this kind of situation it doesn't usually work out real well for the bait." She thought of her daughter. "No. No I can't. I have my daughter to think about."

"We know Teresa. We will be right there to protect you. We have six other officers that are going with us. We'll be inside the house and they'll protect the outside. We won't let him touch you." Greg said reassuringly.

"But he will see me." Teresa started to shake. "Oh god." She put her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

Jules put a hand on her back and put her face down so she could see Teresa's face. "I know you're scared. I would be too if I was in your situation. It's a very scary thing we're asking you to do. I promise you that I will be with you every second. I won't let you out of my sight or my reach. He won't get to you."

Teresa was still crying silently so Jules continued. "No one deserves to be put in a situation like yours. You deserve to be able to live your life without fear. You and your daughter. Help us put him away and free you both."

She looked up and locked eyes with Jules, tears streaming down her face. "What if he has a gun?"

"We've got rules. One of those rules is that we cannot let harm come to another human being. So if it comes down to you or him, we choose you."

Spike said, his eyes filled with encouragement and strength.

Teresa put her head down. Elaina forgive me if this goes wrong, she thought. Momma is going to do everything she can to come home to you baby. "Ok. What do you need me to do?"


	13. Chapter 13

Team Two got back just in time to follow Team One to Teresa's house. They set up as planned with Team Two positioned outside, but in heavy cover. They weren't sure where Tolie and Sam would try to enter the house. It was a single floor dwelling with an exit at the front and back and about eight windows.

It was tough for Team One to set up inside the house. There wasn't a whole lot of places they could be out of sight and be able to come out quickly. Jules stayed with Teresa as promised. Teresa was confined to the kitchen. It was the room at the front of the house and would make her the most visible. Jules stayed in the pantry which gave her a clear view of Teresa and the whole kitchen.

In the small living room next to the kitchen, Wordy was in the corner crouched between the end of the couch and the wall. There was a love seat under the window and cornered to the couch so he could duck behind either depending on where Sam and Tolie entered. Spike was at the other end of the love seat and partially hidden by the TV.

Ed was on the basement stairs next to the living room. In the bathroom next to the stairs, Wordy was in the tub, concealed by the frilly pink shower curtain. Greg took Teresa's bedroom and was hidden in the closet while Lew was in the little girl's closet.

##### house in the woods, 1530 hrs #####

Tolie walked into the living room where Sam was stationed on the couch. He grinned and kicked the couch. "Time to go."

Sam sat up. His heartbeat picked up as he stood. One last try, he thought. "Tolie, I'm begging you. Please don't do this, and please don't involve me. Look, I'll start walking back to the city. We've got to be at least 10 miles if not more from the city. Even if I run, it'll still take me an hour. Plenty of time for you to do what you've gotta do." And walk into the trap , he thought.

"No. You have to come with me." Tolie shook his head. "I need a sniper."

Sam was taken aback. "What? What for?"

"You'll see." Tolie pulled out his gun and pointed it at Sam. "Let's go."

Sam put his hands up, walked to the front door and out of the house. His mind was racing. What did I get myself in now, he thought. You idiot! He stopped in his tracks when he saw their unit buddy Walt 'Disney' Jackson. He looked at Tolie who only smiled and motioned him forward. He started to walk to the passenger seat, but Tolie told him to stop.

"Disney. He involved you in this too?" Sam looked at the very large man in front of him. He hadn't changed since Sam last saw him a year ago in that god forsaken desert.

Walt smiled and put his hands on his hips. His huge arms rippled with the movement. His legs were as big as Sam's head. "A brother in need, you do what you gotta do."

"Yeah, but this is-" Sam didn't get to finish. Tolie punched him in the face in the same vicinity of his current bruise.

"You are so naive." Tolie laughed. "Did you really think I was that stupid? Why the fuck would I give you your phone back? To bury it? Like I didn't think you would use it. I wanted you to!"

"I don't- I thought-" Sam was dumbfounded. Why hadn't he seen? He had thought it was a lapse in judgement. He should've known better. He looked from Tolie to Disney. Connect, he thought. "Ok, let's think about this a second. Disney, he's asking us to help him kill-"

Tolie slugged Sam in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Sam crumpled to the dirt, unconscious. Tolie looked at Disney. "He always did talk too much. Get him in the trunk, I gotta grab the rifle." He didn't wait for the other man's answer and went inside the house. He grabbed the sniper rifle, it wasn't that hard to get it once he told the shop owner he was ex-military.

People were always sympathetic to vets. He came back out and put the rifle in the trunk with Sam. A small trickle of blood was coming from the spot where he had hit Sam. Damn, he thought, that wasn't supposed to happen. He hadn't meant to hit Sam so hard, but his anger had taken over.

"Ready?" Tolie said to Disney, who was still standing by the trunk. When the other man silently nodded, Tolie said, "you know what to do."

Disney nodded. When Tolie had called him, it had taken him two seconds to say yes. Matt had been his friend too so helping Tolie ruin the life of the bastard that took Matt's was easy. He walked to the driver seat of Tolie's car and got in. Tolie had already moved to the driver's side of his car, got in and started it up.

Darkness started to envelop the world as they made their way into the city.

##### Teresa's house 1450hrs #####

"I don't like it. They're late." Spike whispered into his headset. He stuck his left leg out and stretched it. He silently and quickly switched legs before he got back in his crouched position.

"Me either. This is making me nervous." Wordy agreed. He saw Spike stretch and decided to do that as well.

"They'll show." Greg looked out into the bedroom through a crack between the closet door and the door casing.

"This is ridiculous." Teresa was pacing the kitchen. Every minute that went by made her more and more anxious and her need to protect her daughter stronger.

"Just stay calm Teresa. It'll be over soon." Jules whispered from the pantry. When Teresa stopped pacing in front of her, Jules motioned for her to keep away from her.

"I hate this." Teresa stood by the sink in front of the window, a hand to her mouth as the tears came. "I don't know if I can do this." She cried.

##### somewhere in the city #####

Disney stopped the car and climbed out. He walked up the hill next to the road and into the small stand of trees. He put binoculars up to his eyes and looked down at the brown shingled house it's the cop car out front. He could see through the patio doors that the woman, cop and baby were in the living room. This should be easy, he thought. The road on the outside of the development had been easy to find.

He watched the road for a few minutes. It didn't seem like it was that busy. Perfect. His training made him cautious though so he knew he'd have to pull it into the woods further up and make sure it was hidden. He walked back down to the car and moved it about 50 feet up the road and into the woods. He opened the trunk, picked Sam up out of it and put him on the ground next to the car.

He had driven the car around a group of trees with brush around them so the car was partially hidden. He walked into the woods and broke off some more leafy branches to make sure the car was concealed. Disney picked Sam up with a grunt, put him over his shoulder and carried the rifle in the other hand. He walked back up the hill and set up the rifle. This had to be quick, then he had to hightail it outta there. He hoped Sam didn't wake up sooner than he needed.


	14. Chapter 14

##### cousin Ella's house 1715 hrs #####

The bitch had moved. Disney had been irritated when the dark haired girl who had been holding the baby had gotten up. He used sniper breathing to stay calm and kept his eye in the scope. Luckily Braddock was still out cold next to him. He wasn't so sure it would be for much longer. He had made sure to wear his gloves and already had Sam on his belly so he could just slide him over.

He took a slow breath and watched as the woman came into view. She had the baby sideways in her arms, a bottle to the kid's mouth. No harm to the kid, he reminded himself. She is the objective. He watched the woman sit down on the couch and squeezed. Her head bobbed forward. The cop stood and Disney squeezed again. He saw the cop sitting in the car talking on the radio and took the shot. Three down. He got to his knees, pulled Sam into place, put Sam's hand on the gun and wiped at the drag marks with his foot.

He crept down the hill, the glint of his handgun in his rear waistband. He kept to the treeline, made sure no one was watching and entered the house. With the door open the baby's crying could be heard. He appeared a moment later with the baby in his arm. He looked up at the hill, Braddock hadn't picked his head up yet, perfect. He took off at a run through the woods to the car. He put the baby on the front seat. Shit, they hadn't thought about a car seat. He got out and looked in the trunk. There was a cardboard box and a blanket. It'd have to do, he thought. We gotta get outta here.

Sam could hear a baby crying but he didn't understand why. It got softer and then disappeared. What happened, he thought. His mind was muddled. What am I holding? What the? What's on my neck? He reached to the back of his head and winced when he touched the cut on a big bump.

He looked at his other hand holding the rifle. What the? Where am I? Wait, something I'm supposed to be doing. Tolie. Someone I'm supposed to stop. He looked at his hand again, his finger still on the trigger. He could smell the gunpowder. The gun had been fired, but by whom? Had he done it and passed out? No, that doesn't make sense. It all started to come back in a rush. Tolie, his girlfriend, the baby, Disney. Disney. Where is he? He looked through the scope and couldn't see any movement. The patrol car out front caught his eye, especially the hole in the windshield and blood spattered around the slumped body. Oh fuck.

##### Teresa's house 1730 hrs #####

"Shots fired! Shots fired! Sniper-" Both teams heard the call through their headsets and the distinct sound of another gunshot before the radio went dead.

Greg touched his call button. "Winnie?"

"Shots fired at Ella Montoya's. Unis on the way."

Greg put his head back against the wall of the closet. Please let Sam be ok, he pleaded.

"Boss?" Spike exchanged a nervous look with Wordy.

"We hold here Spike."

Every one of Team One shifted position nervously. Each pleaded the cosmos to let Sam be ok.

##### outside Teresa's house 1730 hrs #####

Tolie made his way slowly towards the house. He found a spot where he could see the into the kitchen and Teresa pacing back and forth. He hunkered down to wait. Chaos should be happening any time now.

It had been a bit of a hike for him to get close to the house. He'd seen the SUVs parked at various locations on neighboring streets. It was a good try to conceal the SRU presence. He wasn't stupid. He parked several streets away and made his way through the woods and backyards. He knew the SRU would have a few guys stationed outside and some inside. They always spread themselves too thin. It would work to his advantage. He didn't have to be in the house to kill her, but he wanted to. The bitch would know he had their baby and then, sweet revenge.

A radio call sounded close to him, about 20 feet to his west. It was too close, he almost jumped up, but he kept himself quiet. He smirked. Shots fired, he thought. So it had begun. He'd wait for them to get the second call which would send them running, thinning them out even further.

##### Ella's house 1732 hrs #####

Horrible realization came to Sam. Tolie had set him up for murder. His instincts told him to run, but he knew better. He had to try to explain. He had to talk to the team. They'd believe him won't they? He'd sent the texts trying to warn them, but now it'd look like misdirection. He let his hand fall away from the gun and put his head down. Oh Matt, he thought, I'm in deep. What if they don't believe me?

His head came up. The baby. He'd heard crying in the distance. Damn you Disney. He wanted to move, but he knew he couldn't. He had to try to convince the officers that he knew were coming to have forensics take photos of his position and the ground around him. There had to be footprints. Only one set would be found, proving he was carried. he looked to his right. There were small indications of someone being dragged in his direction although it looked like Disney had tried to wipe them away.

Two minutes later, officers arrived at the house. They checked on the officer in the patrol car and he could see the anger and pain on their faces. They pulled themselves together and entered the home, guns drawn. One walked into the living room and to the patio doors, one of which was left ajar. He suddenly put his hand on his gun, turned to his partner and nodded towards the hill behind the house. They ducked back behind the cover of the living room.

Sam closed his eyes and let his chin rest on the ground. Now they'll come.

##### Teresa's house 1737 hrs #####

"We've got a sniper in the woods outside of the home." The officer said into the radio. "Send the SRU."

"Sarge. What do you want to do?" Ken asked from his position in the neighbor's living room. He was glad they'd agreed to let him and two of his guys take position around the house.

Greg sighed. Sniper. Dammit Sam. What is going on? Had they trusted his texts when they shouldn't have? He wanted to go rushing over there, but he knew Teresa was their priority. "Send a few guys over to check it out. I can't risk sending any of my guys out. Team One, we hold the house as planned."

"Copy. Tom, Eric and Tony. Go stealthy and go check it out." He received three "copy that".

The man to Tolie's west stood slowly and backed away from the house. He couldn't see anyone else move which worried him. He only knew of the hole to his west. How many more were out here?

##### Ella's house 1742 hours #####

Tom Eric and Tony arrived at the house, but parked down the street in the woods. Eric and Tony started walking stealthily through the woods as Tom walked down the road and then cut into the woods making his way up a small hill.

Eic saw the legs if a person up ahead. He looked at Tony and signaled.

Tony moved around a tree and saw it too. He signaled Tom and they moved ahead quickly shouting, "SRU! Get your hands up! Don't move!"

When Tom heard that he rushed up the hill, and approached the blond by the rifle with his gun up. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Tony blinked as he looked at the blond laying in the dirt, blood coming from his head. "Sam?"

"Yeah." Sam had his hands up above his head. "Watch your steps. There should be footprints and I don't want them disturbed."

Tony looked down. He could see a set of boot prints leading up to the gun. He motioned Eric to stay back.

"Look, I know this looks bad, but I can explain. I need you to call forensics for me. I know it's protocol to put me in cuffs, but I need them to photograph me and everything that's here. It's important." Sam said. He looked up at Eric who looked totally confused.

Tony looked at him questioningly. What was he doing with a sniper rifle? He bent down by Sam's head and looked over the scene. He could see the shattered patio window and windshield perfectly from here. "Where's the baby Sam?"

"I don't know. I was out." Sam looked at him with sincerity.

He looked at the cut on Sam's head. He didn't like this, not one bit. "Why should I have forensics photo you? They can do it after we get you out of here."

Sam closed his eyes. He knew they'd have a hard time believing him. "Because you and everyone else may not believe me otherwise." Sam said, pleading with his eyes.

Tony stood and looked at Eric who was giving him a confused and disbelieving look. "Winnie, send EMS, forensics and the coroner to my location." He looked down at Sam and said. "Just keep your hands where we can see them."

Sam nodded and put his hands down in the dirt, his elbows bent.

"Say again Tony?" Greg felt panic and bile rise in his throat.


	15. Chapter 15

Tony turned from Sam and said, "we have a situation here Sarge. Sam's here. He seems ok. We're going to have him checked out and then take him in. We have three dead, the sister and two cops taken out by a sniper. The baby is missing." He waited for the shitstorm he knew was coming.

Greg took a breath but felt like he couldn't get enough air. Three dead, the baby missing and Sam was there. "Sam was the sniper?" He dreaded asking that question as he knew he didn't really want the answer. It couldn't be.

"Looks like it." Tony answered simply.

"No. No way." Spike shook his head. It couldn't be.

"It doesn't make sense." Wordy agreed.

"No." Jules whispered. She put a hand to her mouth. It couldn't be. She shook her head.

"What's the matter?" Teresa whispered to the pantry. When she got no answer she whispered louder. "Jules!"

"Nothing Teresa. It's ok." Jules put on her professional mask and answered with reassurance in her voice.

"Team," Greg said it as a warning, "focus. Our priority is still Teresa."

"He has the baby. What makes you think he's still coming here?" Ed asked angrily. Sam had set up the distraction. Tolie had what he wanted. They had been fooled.

"Because I don't think getting the baby would be enough. Why do all this? Why involve Sam? No, he's out for revenge. We hold here."

"What if he's already here?" Spike asked. "What if he's waiting for us to leave?" What he was thinking was risky, but it could draw Tolie out.

"What do you mean Spike?" Greg asked.

"He has someone take out the people at the cousins and take the baby. Someone and Sam." That hurt a little to say it out loud. "He knows we'll go running to our teammate once we know what happened there. So we go running and lure him out."

Ed shook his head. "Too risky."

"It may be our only chance. The baby's been missing for," he put out his arm and looked at his watch, 1750, "about twenty minutes. Whoever has her is getting farther away." Spike looked at Wordy who nodded in agreement.

It had hurt him to hear Spike put into words what they were all thinking. Why had Sam stayed there though? He didn't leave the scene, that had to say something.

"Ok." Greg sighed. "Wordy, Lew and Ed. Run out of here, jump in the SUV and take off, lights and sirens. We need to make a scene."

"Copy." Wordy and Lew answered.

"Boss." Ed said incredulously. "That's too thin."

"We've still got Ken, Gene and Ken Bailey. They can move in once we get our guy to show himself. Besides, you make a show of leaving then circle around and try to get behind this guy."

Ed shook his head, opened the basement door and walked into the living room followed by Lew. Woody stood and they headed to the door.

Teresa saw them and panicked. "Where are you going?!" She asked wide eyed.

"Jules is right there. Just stay here. Trust us." Wordy smiled reassuringly.

Ed looked at Wordy and Lew. "Ready?" He opened the door and the three of them ran across the lawn and down the street to one of the SUVs saying things like, "oh my god, Sam." "Let's go!" "Sam needs us!" A minute later the SUV went by with it's lights flashing and siren going.

##### woods outside Teresa's house 1752 hrs #####

Tolie saw the three leave and smiled to himself. Yes, go see what a mess Sam has gotten in, the murderer. When the SUV went by he moved to his west and down towards the house. He moved stealthily towards the back door. This was easier than he thought.

Gene watched the man move towards the house. The man hobbled, but he moved stealthily. "Movement in backyard. Subject at back door."

The remaining three people inside the house tensed. Greg was the closest to the back door, but didn't move from his closet.

"Let him get into the living room and we take him down." Greg whispered.

Tolie turned the doorknob and bent down. It hurt his leg, but he crouch walked into the house. He slid along the wall, his gun up and ready. He came to a doorway, cleared the room and then the one across the hall.

Gene, Bailey and Ken moved from their spots around the yard and neighbors house and closed in on Teresa's house. Bailey moved to cover the back door while Gene crouched under a bedroom window and Ken stood by the front door.

Tolie moved down the hall and walked into the open living room. There you are. He lifted the gun and pointed it at Teresa. "Hello Teresa."

Teresa turned with a gasp and moved back to the counter behind her. "No. Jason. I'm sorry. Please don't."

"It's too late you whore!" Tolie yelled, tears coming to his eyes.

Spike rose from his hiding spot with his gun up. "SRU, put the gun down right now." Spike said with authority.

Jules emerged from the pantry, gun on him. Ken moved to the front window nod said, "I have the solution."

Greg walked out of the closet and down the hall, followed by Bailey who put his hand on Greg's shoulder. Both had their guns trained on Tolie. "It's over Tolie. Put the gun down." Greg put his hand out, palm down.

"You'll never find her." Tolie said to Teresa before he put the gun to his chin and pulled the trigger.

Greg closed his eyes. Damn him.

Spike and Bailey secured the gun and made sure the subject was dead. "Subject contained." Bailey stood and looked down at the subject.

In the kitchen, Teresa was hysterical. Jules pulled her into a hug and tried to console her. "What did he mean?" She asked between sobs.

Jules pulled back from her. "I'm so sorry Teresa. Your sister is dead. He had her killed."

"Ella?! Oh my god!" Teresa cried and held onto Jules for dear life.

Greg walked into the kitchen and put a hand on Teresa's back.

Teresa's head shot up. "Elaina. Where is my baby?" She looked at Greg, terror filling her eyes.

"She was taken. We'll find her. Don't worry." Greg said.

Teresa passed out. Jules tried to hold her, but the woman slipped to the floor. Jules crouched down next to her and put a hand on her face. "Theresa?"

##### Ella's house 1755 hrs #####

Wendy from forensics had arrived and walked up to two SRU officers standing over a blonde man on the ground with his hands above him, elbows bent and his chin on the ground. "What we got here?"

"Murder suspect." Tony said, disbelief and sadness tinged his words. "He asked to be photographed before we take him in."

"Ok." Wendy said frowning. "Why?" When they didn't answer she grabbed her camera from her bag and sighed. This is why I prefer to work with the dead, she thought. She took a picture of the blonde and the gun. She walked to the other side of him and saw where the grass and dirt had been disturbed a little. She took a couple pictures of that.

She took a picture of the man from that side. She walked carefully around him and found a boot print. She took a picture and went back to her bag to grab her plaster of Paris. It only took her a minute to mix it up and pour some in the footprint. She saw some other distinct footprints, different from the first. She looked at the boots the officers were wearing.

"Are these your footprints?" She asked Eric who was standing off to the side watching her.

"Yes. Tony and I approached from that direction," he pointed behind Sam with his hand, "and Tom approached from this side." He pointed down the hill. When she smiled at him he thought, I wonder what she looks like without those glasses, her hair down around her face.

"Thanks." Wendy smiled at him. Whoo boy he's handsome, she thought. She looked down at his boots. "Can I get a picture?"

Eric's eyebrows went up and he nodded. She took a picture of the boots and then the treads.

Wendy did this with Tony and Tom's boots as well and took casts of their footprints. She walked up and knelt next to Sam. "I think i've gotten everything here." She took a picture of the back of his head. "Stand up."

Sam did as he was told and stood looking at her.

She took a picture of the big bruise on his chin that was already purple. She snapped one of his shirt which was smeared with dirt and grass in a sideways pattern. Interesting, she thought. She looked in his eyes and saw the pain and hurt he was feeling. Beautiful blue eyes, she thought. She went to her bag and pulled out her swabs. "Put your hands out." She demonstrated with her hand up, fingers splayed and palm down.

When he did it with both hands she used a couple swabs and ran them over his fingers, palm and back of his hand. She took a picture of both sides of his hands. "Ok. I'll meet you at the station." She smiled at him and started walking around the area again.

"Sorry Sam." Eric walked up to him, put Sam's hands behind his back and put the cuffs on.

Tony walked forward and stood on Sam's other side. He recited Sam's rights as they walked him to a patrol car. Just as they were putting him in the back, Greg and Ed pulled to a stop and climbed out.

Sam saw them and swallowed hard. They look so angry, he thought. As they got closer, Sam could see concern too.

"Sam." Greg said as he stopped in front of him.

"We have to find the baby." Sam said. "I can take you there." His eyes were pleading with him to believe him, to believe in him


	16. Chapter 16

Greg could see the pain and the need for someone to trust him in Sam's eyes. He looked at Ed, unsure.

Sam sat in the seat with his legs hanging out. He leaned forward and puked. The doubt in their eyes too much for him to take. He put his chin to his chest and hid his face, not wanting any of them to see him cry.

Tony put a hand on Sam's back, looked up and motioned for the EMT to come over.

Ed looked at Sam's bent over body. He nodded to Greg and they took a few steps away. "It wouldn't hurt."

Greg looked down and nodded. "It's a lead. Ok call the teams, have them meet us here. Hopefully he'll be cleared by EMS and we can go."

The EMT took a wet nap and cleaned Sam's face and mouth. "Are you dizzy? Still nauseous?"

"Little bit." Sam sniffed and straightened up, but kept his head down.

"Ok. Here sit on the ground so I can look at your head." The EMT motioned to the back of the car away from the mess on the ground.

Tony took Sam's arm, helped him stand, walk to the back of the car and sit on the ground. He stood at the end of the trunk with his back to them. He could see that Sam was very upset and wanted to give them privacy.

The EMT looked at his head and grabbed some gauze from his bag. He put it on Sam's head and used some in his other hand to wipe the blood from Sam's neck and head. "Did you lose consciousness?"

"Yeah." Sam winced when the EMT pressed on his cut to get it to stop bleeding. "I think I was out for like 15-20 minutes." The image of the EMT doubled in front of him. He'd been ok when he was lying down. He wished he could do that again.

The EMT frowned. That was a long time. He waved the flashlight in Sam's eyes. He didn't like what he saw. He looked to the ambulance and waved to his partner to bring the gurney.

"Is he ok?" Greg asked concerned when he saw the other guy pushing the gurney.

"He may need stitches on the cut, but I'm more concerned about a concussion. He was out for a long time he says." The other EMT reached them and he put the gurney down.

"I have to go." Sam said and tried to stand. He wavered and Tony turned and caught him.

"I hate to ask, but can it wait a little while?" Greg asked urgently. He heard the other SUVs pull up and the teams jump out. "We need him." Greg said with emphasis.

Sam looked at him. They need me? The baby. Gotta find the baby. "I'm good Boss." Sam nodded.

The EMT looked at Greg. "He needs to be checked out at emerg."

"Will do." Greg nodded.

The EMT grudgingly put a bandage on Sam's head and told them again to make sure it got checked out.

Greg nodded to Tony and he helped Sam walk to one of the SUVs and get in.

Sam sat back against the seat and closed his eyes. Just for a second, he thought. A single tear slipped down his cheek. What a mess, he thought. They don't even know if I'm telling the truth.

Wordy, Jules, Lew and Spike ran up to Greg and Ed.

"Is he ok?" Jules asked.

"What did he say? Anything?" Wordy looked at Greg concerned.

"Where's the baby?" Lew chimed in.

"He needs to get to the ER, but he said he can take us to where they were staying. Sounded like he thinks that's where whoever took the baby might be." Greg looked at each of them.

"You don't know if we should believe him." Spike said in disbelief noting Greg's cautious tone.

"I don't know what to think." Greg said, his voice emotional.

"I do." Spike said with sincerity. "From what I've seen, Sam has tried to help us stop this guy. I'm not going to doubt that now." Spike stalked off to the SUV he saw Tony put Sam in and got in the front seat.

Wordy watched Spike walk off. "I'm with Spike. Let's go." Wordy walked to the SUV with Sam and Spike in it and got in the driver's seat.

Greg, Ed, Jules and Lew were all stunned. All of the evidence so far pointed to Sam as a party to what's happened yet Spike and Wordy refused to believe any of it. It surprised them.

Greg was the first to speak, "alright teams, load up. We follow Wordy, Spike and Sam to the location. We're going to have to be stealthy though, no lights or sirens. Wordy, Spike see if you can get some info on this third person."

Everyone answered, "copy that."

Sam had been surprised when Spike had gotten in the SUV. He thought for sure he'd be riding with Ed and Sarge. He didn't dare speak when he saw Spike's emotional face. He looked out the window and watched the members of Teams One and Two get into five separate SUVs.

Wordy got in the SUV a minute later. He looked at Spike and they nodded, as if agreeing on something. Sam looked back out the window until Wordy spoke.

"Where to Sam?" Wordy looked in the rearview at him.

"Head northeast out of the city." Sam pointed with his head. That was a bad move, he thought as his head pounded and he winced. Tolie thought he had been so smart to knock Sam out when they travelled to or from the house. He forgot about their overnight mission outside of Qatar.

They'd had to wait all night for the enemy move out which never happened. They had taken turns keeping each other awake with stories from home. Tolie had talked about this old house that ran in his family. He'd described the roads to Sam on detail and he'd spent a lot of time exploring Toronto when he moved here. He often ran from his house out to the beginning of the road.

Spike looked back at Sam and saw him wince. "Don't move your head. Just sit back." He said with concern. He didn't like seeing the huge purple bruise on Sam's chin. It looked terribly painful.

Sam did as Spike said, but he opened one eye and looked at him. He held Spike's gaze before he looked away. Did he really see compassion and trust in Spike's brown eyes?

"We need to know who took Elaina Sam." Spike asked.

Sam took a breath after they hit a bump. Oh that sucks, he thought. I guess I can't put it off. "His name is Walt Johnson, nickname Disney. He was in one of my JTF2 units. He's originally from Orlando so that coupled with the first name Walt got him the nickname. Pretty ironic for a 6'6' 300 lb gorilla. They guy is pure muscle. A physical takedown is out of the question." Sam sat up, taking his head off the back of the hard seat. Bouncing it on there was not helping.

"Ask him why this Disney guy would be involved." Greg asked over the headset. He and Ed were in the SUV behind theirs.

"Why would he be involved?" Spike asked.

"Because when you're JTF2, your unit becomes your family. If someone in the family asks for your help, you don't refuse." Sam moved his hands to one side, uncomfortable.

Spike nodded. Like us, he thought. Or how we should be."Is that why you helped?" Spike asked the question everyone was thinking.

Sam shook his head. I can't. Oh please don't ask me, he thought. Half-truth is better than a whole lie. "He threatened you. The team. He said he'd make you suffer." He looked at Spike, tears in his eyes. "He said he'd go after my sister. Have 'fun' with her and make me watch. I had to. I'm so sorry. I had to." Sam put his head down and let the tears come.

Spike looked at Wordy. Sam has a sister? They didn't know that. Tolie had made some heavy threats, of course Sam had helped him. The big question was, had he killed for him?

Ed looked at Greg. How did they not know he had a sister? It made sense that Sam had been threatened, to force him to do what Tolie wanted.

"So what do we need to know about this guy?" Wordy asked gently.

"He's dangerous." Sam sniffed. "Special Forces trained so he can definitely defend himself. He has the other glock. Did, is Tolie in custody?" He wasn't sure if he wanted to know if they had to take Tolie out.

Spike looked at Wordy. When Wordy nodded, Spike said, "he's gone. He came in the house and pointed the gun at Teresa. We surrounded him and… he took the easy way out." Spike saw Sam's shoulders shake. "I'm sorry. I know he was a friend."

Not much of a friend, he thought. He pulled me into this mess and made me look like a murderer. More than I am. Sam nodded and wished he could blow his nose. Without thinking about it he lifted his butt, then legs and slipped the cuffs to the front. "Can I have a tissue?"

Spike looked at him and laughed. "Nice." He opened the center console, pulled out a couple napkins and handed them to Sam.

"Oh." Sam looked down at his hands. "Sorry."

"Teresa is safe." Spike nodded to Sam and saw the blue eyes acknowledge that important fact.

Wordy was on the road out of town. Sam sat forward and put his cuffed hands on Wordy's seat. "Slow down. It's a left about 50 feet up. After that it's about eight miles out at the end of this road. We'll have to stop and park about 40 feet from the house so we aren't seen."

Everyone answered, "copy."


	17. Chapter 17

##### house in the woods 1800 hrs #####

Disney put his hands on his ears and paced the living room. The kid had been screaming non-stop since they got to the house 40 minutes ago. He'd tried to give her the bottle, but she wouldn't take it. He hadn't thought to grab her diaper bag so he couldn't change her if he wanted to. He went to the box and picked her up for the third time. He put her on his shoulder and patted her back. "Come on little one. Uncle Disney could use some peace and quiet." He started bouncing and that seemed to calm her.

Oh thank god. He thought. He was glad that he had lots of practice with babies from babysitting his sister's five kids. Apparently the chaos of their house with five kids under the age of eight was not enough because she was six months pregnant. He couldn't understand how she and her CEO husband did it. He watched the kids once a week so they could have a date night and by the time they got home he was passed out on the couch. The house was usually a wreck because he hadn't had the energy to clean up.

After five more minutes of walking and bouncing she was asleep. He walked carefully upstairs with the box and wondered if Tolie had a bed for her. He was surprised to find a nursery in the second room he went in. He laid her down gently in the crib and backed out. He left the door open, went down into the living room and sat down on the couch. He grabbed the box of snacks he was eating and started watching his nature show.

##### Wordy and Spike's SUV, two miles from the house 1815 hrs #####

"So what happened Sam?" Spike asked. He knew there would be an investigation, but he had to know Sam's side. No, he told himself, he had to know what happened. It wasn't Sam's version or side. Sam would not have just murdered people.

Sam looked at Spike. How do I tell him without having to tell him about Matt, he thought. I couldn't take what they'd think of me then. They already don't trust me. "Tolie showed up in my apartment Tuesday. He wanted my help with something."

"In your apartment? He broke in?" Spike frowned.

"Yes. Tolie is, was an entry specialist. He could get into any building, anytime, anywhere. I put him off and told him I'd call him. That wasn't fast enough for him so he showed up at the barn."

Wordy looked at Sam in the rearview. He could tell Sam was leaving something out. "You didn't look happy to see him that day."

"No. I wasn't sure what he wanted and we, when I left JTF2 we weren't speaking." Sam took a breath and regretted it.

"Why weren't you talking? Spike asked.

"So later that night he broke in again. He told me he needed me to track down his daughter. He told me all about Teresa and how she cheated and he beat up her lover. So I asked him what he was going to do and he said he was going to file for custody." Sam explained.

"You believed him?" Spike asked, echoing Ed's question through the headset. He did not repeat that Sam had avoided the question about them not talking.

"I wasn't sure, but he made threats. So," he looked at Spike apologetically, "I went to the barn and used your laptop to find Teresa. Sorry Spike."

"Yes but you left me little breadcrumbs so I could see what you did. It was ingenious Sam!" Spike said proudly. "Who knew?"

Sam gave him a half-smile. He knew Spike would find them. "So I gave him the info and he pulled a gun on me. He told me I had to go with him, that he was going to make the bitch pay. We went down to his car, he punched me and knocked me out. Next thing I knew we were at this house."

"What other threats did he make?" Jules asked as they slowed down. She looked at Lew. There were some things that Sam wasn't telling them.

"What were the other threats?" Spike asked.

"Slow, slow. Ok stop here." He looked at Spike, his eyes pleading. I can't, he thought. Please don't ask me.

"Stay here." Spike got out and waited for the rest of them to join him. He motioned for them to turn off their radios so the scripter wouldn't pick up this part.

"There's something he isn't telling us." Jules whispered.

"Yeah. I think it's something he really doesn't want to talk about." Spike looked at Jules. "I don't know. I don't think we should keep pushing him. He's starting to shut down."

"Ok Spike." Greg nodded. He motioned them to put their headsets back on when Team Two walked up in a line.

"Something we missed?" Ken asked as he came to a stop next to Greg.

"No." Greg said. "So, we've got plenty of people for cover, Ed, Tony what do you think?"

"Do we have a floor plan?" Ed looked to Spike and Eric.

"Sent it to your PDAs." Eric nodded.

Spike smiled at him and everyone looked at their PDAs.

Ed looked up at the house. The land around it was pretty flat. He turned to ask Sam what he thought and remembered he was in the SUV in cuffs. "Pretty flat. We'll have to go low and slow. It's pretty exposed. There's a garage on the right side. That might have to be our Sierra."

Tony looked up and didn't see many options either. "I agree. Gene, we'll have you on the backside of the roof for Sierra Two."

Ed nodded. "Jules, front side of the garage, Sierra One. Both of you be careful up there."

"Copy." Jules and Gene said together. Gene ran to the back of his SUV to get his rifle while Jules opened Wordy and Spike's to get hers. She let out a small gasp at the sight of the bloody bandage on the back of Sam's head.

Sam turned when he heard the back of the SUV open. He looked at Jules and felt his heart flip. "Hey." That was all he could make his mouth say. His eyes were searching hers for some sign that she believed his story.

"Hey. You ok?" She looked at him concerned.

"Been better." Sam said.

She gave him a sympathetic look and closed the doors quietly. She knew he had to have a headache with the blows to the head he'd obviously taken. Once she had her gun ready, she joined Gene and they made their way around the edge of the property in the woods.

Sam noticed a headset and transmitter left on the center console and smiled. Good ol Spike. He put it in his ear and put the microphone away from his mouth. He turned on the transmitter.

Gene took out his binoculars and looked into the kitchen window. No movement. He motioned to Jules and she ran, low and slow across the open space to the back of the garage. A few seconds later, Gene joined her. Luckily for them there was a ladder laid across the back of the garage. They slowly and quietly lifted it up and both of them climbed to the top.

Ed and Tony each took their officers and headed, low and slow towards the house. Tony brought his five officers to the backside of the house where they slowly moved into position. Tony, Ken and Tom on entry, Eric and Bailey covering the back door.

On the front, Ed, Greg and Spike were on entry while Wordy and Lew covered the front door.

"In position." Tony whispered.

"Team One in position. Sierras?" Ed whispered back.

Jules looked through her scope into the front kitchen window. She could see only part of the subject's head and left arm on the couch. "No joy. Only partial view of subject. Package is not in sight."

Gene looked through the kitchen window on their side of the house. "Only a blind shot. I can see the top of his head. It'd have to be through the couch. No eyes on package."

"Lew, Wordy, go around the side," Ed pointed to the left side of the house, "see if we can get a better view."

Wordy and Lew walked low and slow to the edge of the house. Wordy used his mirror and could see two big windows on this side. He looked in one and had a good view of the subject. "Sam wasn't kidding. This guy is huge. We can't go forward any further. There are two big windows. We'll be spotted."

"Ok Wordy. Hold. Once we make entry, move to the windows." Ed nodded. "Team Two, on my go. Three, two, go!" Spike pulled back with the ram and landed it squarely on the door knocking it open. He put it down and followed Greg and Ed in.

"Don't move! SRU! Right there!" Ed yelled over everyone else yelling "SRU put your hands up! Freeze!"

Disney was shocked when both doors flew open and men with guns filed into the house. He stood and looked out the window to see two officers with guns pointed at his head. He put his big arms up over his head.

"Get on the ground now." Ed ordered.

"I have the solution." Jules said. She shifted and let out a whoop. She rolled off the roof and to the ground.

Gene stood and looked over the ridge to Jules but she was gone. "Jules is down!" He looked through his scope and could see the agitated subject. "I have the solution."

Sam heard this and although it killed his head, he opened the door and ran up the driveway to the garage. Jules lay on the ground not moving.

"Walt, get on the ground now." Ed said again, more anger in his voice. He wanted to run outside to check on Jules, but they had to take care of this guy first.

Disney looked around and considered his options. Six against one is not very fair odds. Damn you Tolie, he thought. He kneeled on the floor and put his hands on his head. Ed pulled one arm down and put a cuff on his hand. Greg did the same to the other arm and they connected their two sets of cuffs.

"Jules! Status!" Greg yelled. He ran to the the side kitchen window and saw Sam bent over Jules and Gene, Wordy and Lew arrive at her side.

"Unconscious. Barely breathing. We need-" Sam looked frantically down the driveway when he saw the ambulance pulling up. He put up his handcuffed hands and waved them over. Wordy pulled Sam to standing and back from Jules.

"We're going with her." Wordy said into his ear. "C'mon." Wordy tipped his head to the ambulance.

"Copy Wordy. We'll meet you there." Greg said as he and Ed struggled to pull Walt to his feet.

While they were cuffing Walt, Eric, Tom and Tony had cleared the upstairs and Eric was carrying the baby down the stairs. She was bright eyed and smiling. "No harm to baby Elaina." Eric said.

Sam gave a sigh of relief as Wordy helped him into the ambulance. They sat on the bench in the back of the ambulance and waited. Wordy turned off his headset, reached over to Sam's on his right hip and turned it off.

"I'm sorry Sam." Wordy looked at him with sadness in his eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Sam was totally confused. "Why are you apologizing?" He looked at Wordy.

"I haven't invited you to dinner. I'd really like it if you would come meet Shel and the girls." Wordy asked. "After all this is cleared up of course."

This was not helping to clear up his confusion. "Dinner?" He said slowly. Maybe he did get hit harder than he thought. Why would Wordy want him to spend time with him and his family? Was he dreaming? And he sounded so sure this would all blow over. "Cleared?" He believed I didn't kill those people?

"Whenever you're ready." Wordy smiled at Sam. He could see Sam was confused by his invitation. He watched as Jules was loaded on the stretcher and wheeled towards them.

Greg and Ed, holding Disney started walking by the ambulance.

Disney looked up, saw Sam and stopped in his tracks. The men on each side of him had no choice but to stop too. "Hey. You tell your precious team what you did? Do they know the real you?" Wordy looked at the huge man and back to Sam.

Ed was trying to pull on Disney's arm but he wasn't budging.

"Shut up Disney you fat fuck." Sam spat.

Wordy looked at Sam frowning. He hadn't heard Sam speak that way to anyone.

Disney lunged towards Sam and looked directly at Wordy. "Do you know? I'll bet you don't! Do you know what he did?" He waited and Wordy shook his head. He looked down at the men on either side of him. They had blank looks on their faces.

Behind him the gurney had stopped with Spike and Lew on either side of Jules. They had been laughing and talking to Jules but they stopped. Team Two had already moved to the SUVs and turned off their headsets at Ken's order. He had a feeling anything that big oaf had to say about Sam was not for everyone's ears.

Greg motioned for everyone to go offline. He had a bad feeling too. If he could get the big idiot to move he'd silence him, but it wasn't working.

Disney laughed a deep and guttural laugh. "Naive! The whole lot of you! Mr. Military here killed his best friend! Blew his fucking head right off." He put up his hands and made the motion.

"No." It was small and barely audible, but Wordy heard the one syllable as it escaped Sam's lips. Sam went back to that day as Disney talked about it. His eyes looked ahead, unfocused as he replayed the worst five minutes of his life.

"This guy you think is so perfect is a murderer." A light went on in Disney's mind. "Just like he killed those three people at the house. You saw him, didn't you?" He looked from Greg and Ed and saw the conflict on their faces. "Oh. You don't know if you believe him. Ha! See you in jail Braddock. Then your ass is mine."

Spike had heard enough. He could see that Sam was a million miles away and it was worrying. He gave Disney a shove. "Move it. Now." He let the anger fill his voice.

Lew was surprised at the gruff way Spike was speaking. He'd never heard his happy go lucky best friend use that tone, ever.

Ed and Greg shook themselves from their thoughts and pulled on Disney's arms. They got him down the driveway and sitting sideways in the cop car. He was too big to sit normally.

Wordy put up a hand before they started pushing Jules to the ambulance again. "Sam." He said gently and touched Sam's shoulder. The younger man pulled away from him and started to move towards the end of the bench and out the door.

Sam would've fallen on his head if Lew hadn't stepped forward and put a hand up to stop him. He pulled away from Lew and stopped halfway between Wordy and Lew. He pulled his legs up, shifted so he was sideways on the bench and put his arms over his legs.

The medic that had assessed Jules rushed up from her side and put a light in Sam's eyes. Sam didn't move, didn't say a word. "Has this ever happened before?" He looked at Wordy, Lew and Spike. They all shook their heads. "We'd better go." He got down, slid the gurney into the back of the ambulance with Spike's help and climbed in. Spike and Lew closed the doors and Spike hit his hand on the door. Inside the EMT yelled up to his partner that they were ready to go.

Wordy looked at Jules. She was awake but her breathing was kind of ragged. "Are you ok?"

"Knocked the wind out." She wheezed. Man, Ed was going to kick her ass for not latching in somewhere. "Ed mad."

Wordy shook his head. "No why?'

"Not latched. Stupid. Lost balance shifting position." She closed her eyes and tried to take small breaths. "Broke ribs."

"Oh Jules. Why wouldn't you latch in?" Wordy tipped his head and looked at her, his fatherly concern kicking in. "You're right. Ed's going to hand you your butt for that."

She smiled. It faded when she looked at Sam. "Sam. You ok?" He didn't answer. She looked at Wordy confused. She had heard the big man talking, but his words weren't registering. She was just trying to breathe. She hated the stupid c-collar they put on her neck.

"It's ok. We're going to get him checked out. Try to relax." He took her hand and smiled at her. He kept looking at Sam hoping he would come to, but he just sat there.

Greg and Ed had joined Lew and Spike at the top of the driveway. Each were lost in their own thoughts about what Disney had told them about Sam's friend Matt. He hadn't ever shared anything like that with them. They could see why. It obviously was very painful for Sam to even think about. He couldn't handle it and had totally shut down.

"Let's get to the hospital." Greg broke into their thoughts.

Numbly Spike walked to the SUV he shared with Wordy and Sam. Without thinking he got in the passenger seat.

Lew walked by and saw Spike was staring ahead. He knocked on the window. "Spike."

"Yeah buddy." Spike looked at Lew, the weight of Disney's words on his mind. He felt horrible for Sam. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if he accidentally shot Lew. His world would come crashing down.

"I'll drive." Lew patted Spike's shoulder with his hand and walked to the back of the SUV. He waved to Ed and Greg and jogged up to their SUV. "I'm going to drive Spike. Can one of you drive the other SUV?" It was the one he had ridden to the scene with Jules.

"Yeah." Ed opened the door making Lew back up. "Is Spike ok?"

"It's a lot to process." Lew looked at him.

"It is." Ed nodded. He put a hand on Lew's shoulder. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'll process later." Lew nodded. He turned and headed to the driver's side of the SUV. When he got in, Spike was still staring straight ahead. "Hey, he'll be ok." Lew tipped his head to get Spike's attention.

Spike looked at him, his eyes filling. "I can't imagine. If I did that-" he shook his head.

"Then don't." Lew gave him a little smile. "You didn't. We just have to help Sam through it."

"Yeah." Spike nodded.

##### Toronto General Hospital, 2030 hrs #####

Wordy waited for them to unload Jules before he got out and stood in front of Sam out in the bay. "Sam. I need you to get out now. No one is going to touch you if you don't want us to."

A nurse had come out into the bay when the medic told her the other guy was catatonic. She was putting gloves on while Wordy was talking.

Wordy stepped closer to the ambulance so that he was at the open doors. "Please Sam. We just want to make sure you're ok."

Sam could feel himself moving, but he wasn't sure how. He put out a hand and felt a warm one take it and put an arm around him, guiding him. He blinked and willed his eyes to see. The blackness was starting to fade. Where am I, he thought. He looked to his left and saw Wordy. The face and name registered. "Wordy."

"Yes Sam. I'm right here." Wordy nodded as they walked into the ER. Oh good, he thought. He's starting to come around. What the hell was that?

Sam blinked several more times and realized he was in a hospital. Dammit, he thought. I hate hospitals. He let Wordy lead him to a curtained area, sit him on the bed and lay him back. When he heard the nurse say he needed to take his clothes off he sat up and stood up. He was fully awake now. "No. Just check my head."

"Ok Sam. Just sit down." Wordy said soothingly.

Sam sat on the bed with his back to Wordy and the nurse.

Wordy pointed to out in the ER, the nurse nodded and followed him. "Can you run as many tests as you can without him having to get undressed? He's really anxious."

She nodded and walked away.


	19. Chapter 19

Wordy went back into the room and saw that Sam had laid back down on the bed but had his shirt off. Wordy could see about ten different scars on Sam's chest and stomach. Man he's been through a lot, he thought.

Sam took a breath and started pointing to the scars, starting at the top. He pointed to a small scar on his clavicle. "In the third grade I was racing my sister down this big hill when her wheel started to wobble really bad. I knew she was going to crash so I jumped from my bike, grabbed her off of hers just as the wheel came off and we landed hard in a ditch. Both of our bikes were trashed and I broke my clavicle in two places so they had to do surgery to fix it."

"Was your sister hurt?" Wordy asked, not sure if he should.

"No." Sam shook his head.

"How old were you both?"

"I was 9 and Nat was 7. Man the General was mad."

"Why?" Wordy frowned. He was glad Sam was sharing this with him. "You kept her from getting hurt. It's what big brothers are supposed to do."

"Right? No he was mad that we were racing in the first place. That I let her race." Sam scoffed. "Unacceptable risk. Still haven't learned my lesson."

Wordy smiled warmly at him.

The nurse came in and put the back of Sam's bed up. She had him sit forward while she took off the bandage. The blood had soaked through and onto the sheet beneath him. He hissed when she put some alcohol on it to clean it. "Hmm. It's actually kind of deep. It's going to need some stitches. How do you feel?" She looked in his eyes. He was awake and oriented.

"Still a little dizzy." Sam said honestly.

"Nauseous?"

"A little, but not bad."

"How long was he out?" She looked at Wordy.

"From that? I don't know." Wordy pointed to the cut.

"It had to be at least 15-20 minutes." He looked at Wordy. Yeah that was about the travel time to Ella's. Ella. Oh god, Disney killed her. And the two patrolmen. Oh god. Sam felt his eyes filling. He bit his cheek and closed his eyes willing them to go away. He opened them. "I didn't wake up until after Dis- Walt was gone." He corrected himself and looked seriously at Wordy, willing him to believe him.

"Yeah I would say closer to 20 minutes then." Wordy nodded.

"Ok. The doctor will be in." She took notes on her laptop, closed it and walked out.

Sam laid back against the sheet and closed his eyes. The pain was too much. Matt, Tolie, Walt, Teresa, Elaina, Ella and the two patrolmen. All of their lives affected by him. Screwed up by him and his life. He turned his head from Wordy and looked to the wall. Why was he such a screw up? He wished for something to make it go away. He looked around the room. There are a few options here, he thought. He knew of many. He turned his gaze around the room taking inventory. He landed on Wordy who was looking at him with deep concern.

"Sam?" Wordy did not like the look in Sam's eyes. It was one they saw in subjects, most of them on bridges and rooftops.

"I'm fine." Sam said with a sob and looked at the ceiling. Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional. It was something he and his JTF2 buddies had come up with. Sam had been sent out on mission after mission. He was out for days at a time. He came back from them in a horrible mental state. Matt had come up with the acronym after a particularly hard mission. Sam had been nearly catatonic but had said he was fine. Matty had said it jokingly, but had evaluated quickly that Sam's state was anything but funny.

"You don't look or sound fine." Wordy said seriously.

Sam shook his head. Tears streaming from his eyes.

Wordy stood and gathered Sam into his arms letting Sam's racking sobs shake him. It did shake him, to the core. He hadn't ever seen a person as broken apart as Sam was. It broke his heart that Sam hadn't shared this with anyone else and had obviously buried it very deep.

Sam pulled back and Wordy looked at his red face. "You don't have to be embarrassed. Everyone cries. It's part of being human. I cry." Wordy smiled at him.

"Thanks." Sam took the tissues Wordy offered, blew his nose and wiped his face.

Wordy sat back in his chair and waited. He wasn't going to push, but he knew Sam needed to get some things off his chest.

Sam pointed at a scar on his chin. "I got this one with Matt. We were taking dates to an old fashioned drive in movie and I was driving Matt's car. Well the girl I was with kept putting her hand on my knee and, other places. So I wasn't looking at the road," he raised his eyebrows at Wordy who returned the look, "and when I looked back there was a deer crossing the road. I swerved to miss it and hit a wooden fence. One of the posts came through the window and stopped inches from my neck. It cut my chin up though."

He paused and tried to decide what to say next. "Matt and I got into lots of scrapes together." His face dropped from the smile that had played on his lips. "Some of the worst were in JTF2." He stopped when Spike and Lew entered.

"Hey. We wanted to see how you're doing." Spike smiled. He could see from both of their faces that he was not good.

Lew's smile faded when he felt the seriousness that had enveloped the room.

Wordy stood and put a hand up, but Sam stopped him.

"It's ok." Sam said and motioned for him to sit down.

Wordy sat down cautiously. He settled back in his chair when Sam started to speak again.

"I, uh, was just telling Wordy about my friend Matt." He saw that Spike was going to say something but he cut him off. "Matt was my best friend in the world. I got most of these scars with him or because of him." He swept a hand over his chest and stomach and smiled at the memories. "When I. When he died, I didn't think I would ever have friends again. I didn't think I deserved any. I killed my best friend. Who would want to be friends with a guy like that?

I was on a long distance mission with my unit. Matt and Tolie were deep in an enemy village." He paused, he couldn't give them much detail but he could talk about some of it. "Before they went under, Matty said, 'owe me a beer B.' It was our code for 'all clear. See you after.' I, uh." The sound he made was more like a child's sigh. "I was taking out targets from a long range. My commander gave me coordinates for the next shot and didn't pause before He gave the go ahead. I should've known that was odd.

They always had me verify the target. But they gave me the go ahead and an order is an order. So I lined up the shot and took it. It was too late before I saw the small lettering on the back of his jacket identifying him as one of us. It was my fault. I should've verified. I didn't verify." He looked at Spike. He was afraid to see what he knew they would feel, pity. Instead he saw anger and acceptance. How could he accept what I just told him?

Sam looked at Lew. There was more of the same. Acceptance, understanding, anger.

"I killed him." Sam said again, thinking that would break them. They would break and he would see what they really thought of him. A cold blooded killer. "How can you stand there and accept what I just told you?" He started to yell, but a nurse came in and threatened to sedate him.

"It was an accident Sam. A horrible accident." Lew said simply.

Sam nodded and put a finger on each eye and rubbed. "I'm sorry." Sam shook his head. "I've been afraid to get close to anyone after Matt. I just wanted to be part of something special, to belong somewhere and I- I can't even do that right." He pulled his legs up, put his arms around them and bowed his head.

Wordy started to laugh. Sam picked his head up and frowned at him. Wordy shook his head, tears flowing down his cheeks. They weren't from laughing hard though. "You failed?" Wordy took a breath through his nose and sniffed. "What about me? I haven't even made an effort to hang out with you at all. I've never had you over to my house to meet my wife and kids. What kind of teammate am I? What kind of person am I Sam? I'm so sorry."

Spike nodded, tears filling his eyes too. "Me too. A couple days ago was the first time I asked you to do something on days off and I'm ashamed of myself. I haven't been welcoming to you since you started on the team and I'm really sorry Samo."

Lew put a hand on Spike's shoulder. "We've kinda been the dynamic duo and doing stuff together. I haven't had a real conversation like this with you ever and that's not right. I'm sorry."

Sam smiled through his tears. He had told them a story about his past and they were apologizing to him. How did that work? He frowned.

"Our past is what helps shape us, but you can't let it define you." Wordy tipped his head down and caught his eye.

Sam nodded. He looked at Wordy and smiled. "Thanks." He looked at Lew and Spike. "You guys too. This is," he took a deep breath for the first time in a long time, "what I was hoping for."


	20. Chapter 20

The nurse stuck her head into the room. She had gone in to make the patient stop yelling warlier and could see they were in a deep conversation nNow but she had to take him to the CT scanner. "Hi." She looked at the man on the bed and he looked 20 pounds lighter. "Well you look better. Are you feeling better?" She walked all the way in and motioned for the doctor to come in.

Lew and Spike took that as a sign and stepped out of the room. Wordy started to leave too, but Sam asked him to stay. He didn't say so, but he hated hospitals and didn't want to be alone.

The doctor examined Sam and they agreed he needed stitches and a CT scan just to be sure. It only took the doctor five minutes to put the few stitches in. Sam had closed his eyes when he saw the needle with the numbing medicine. He'd tried to convince the doctor not to use anything, but the doctor was insistent. Sam convinced him to only use a little bit. Medications made him loopy and he didn't want to say anything embarrassing.

Wordy grabbed Sam's hand when he saw him get nervous about the needle and Sam had smiled in gratitude.

While Sam was getting his CT scan, Wordy went to check on Jules. He didn't see Spike and Lew so he assumed they went back to the waiting room. He knew he could count on them not to say anything about what Sam told them. It wasn't their place.

He walked into Jules' room and smiled. She was sitting up in the bed with a Johnny on. "What're you doing?" He asked her incredulously.

"Going to John." She said and stood. It was extremely painful and she winced.

"Uh uh." He picked up a emesis basin and raised an eyebrow.

Jules gave him a dirty look and sat back down. "I am not peeing in a little tray. Just give me a sec." She did some sniper breathing and the dizziness finally passed. She stood again, except this time Wordy was with her.

The door opened and Sam's nurse walked in. "What're you doing?" She asked angrily. "You should not be out of bed!"

Wordy looked at her. "Trust me, it's easier to just agree with her. So am I taking her to the bathroom or are you?"

The nurse gave him an ugly look and took Jules' hand from him. Ten minutes later they made the trip back to the bed.

Jules laid back in the bed and sighed.

Wordy stifled a laugh. "So what did they say?"

"Lucky. Bruised ribs. Landed on rolled up pool. Very lucky." Jules had to breathe shallowly, so she could only talk haltingly.

"You may get a free pass after all." Wordy smiled. That's what they called it when they got out of an ass chewing because of an injury.

"Doubt it." Jules smiled.

"So how long do you have to stay?" Wordy asked. He listened out the door for the sound of Sam's gurney returning.

Jules could see he was distracted. "Tonight. That's it. Light duty for a week. Or so." She looked at him and waited.

"Oh good." He looked back at her. "Sorry, they took Sam to the CT scanner and I want to be in there when he gets back. Hospitals make him pretty anxious."

Jules smiled. "Is he ok?"

"Just some stitches so far. Maybe a concussion, but he's way better than he was." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"What was that about?" Jules asked.

Wordy looked out the door. They were bringing him back. "He's back. I'll bet he's walking out of here tonight. Don't worry and rest up ok?"

It was only after she agreed and told him to go did Wordy leave. Didn't answer, she thought. Guess that's a question for Sam. She was glad he was ok, but when he left here he'd have to go to the station and be booked. She laid back against the pillow and thought about Sam. She hoped they could prove his innocence.

Wordy walked back into Sam's room as the wheeled him in. He looked at the nurse, concerned when he saw Sam was sleeping. The nurse waved him to out in the ER. "Guess he was tired." Wordy shrugged.

The nurse nodded. "He asked if he could keep his eyes closed. Guess he was tired enough to fall asleep."

"I guess." Wordy shook his head. "How long before we know anything?"

"Shouldn't be too long. The tech has to read the results and then discuss it with the doctor."

"Ok." Wordy went back into the room and sat in the chair next to Sam. He looked at Sam's peaceful face. My girls look like that when they sleep, he thought. How could I have been so uncaring? Everything will change now.

A half hour later, Sam woke up. He kept his eyes closed, breathing even and self assessed. It was something he'd learned to do in the military, he would never be caught unawares again. Everything seems good, he thought. Jaw is a little sore. Headache, cut on the back of the head. Maybe a concussion. He could feel that someone was in the room with him. Wordy.

He remembered his talk with Wordy, Spike and Lew. They care. They apologized to him. When he had thought he screwed up, they apologized to him. Matt, he thought. They can't replace you, no one could, but they want to be friends. Maybe I do belong. Maybe. He let a tear slip from his eye.

"Sam?" Wordy saw the tear and sat up.

Sam opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. I miss you so much Matt. He felt someone take his hand.

"I gotcha buddy." Wordy took Sam's hands in both of his.

Sam nodded. He let the tears flow and begin to wash away the hurt. He'd been alone for so long. No one that understood. No one that cared. Now he could feel the strength from the solid hands holding his. He closed his eyes and let it flow through him. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and looked for a tissue. Wordy let go of his hands, handed him a couple tissues and he blew his nose. He looked at Wordy with seriousness in his blue eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anytime." Wordy returned the look with a warm smile.

The doctor walked in and smiled at them. "So Mr. Braddock. It looks like you do have a concussion. We would like you to stay just for the night."

Sam started to shake his head but that hurt it. No hospitals, he thought.

"I think it'd be best." Wordy looked down at his still handcuffed hands. They could send him to the jail where they could monitor him, but he'd rather Sam didn't have to spend any time in jail. He knew Sam was innocent anyway. He was obviously knocked out by Tolie or Disney and set up to take the fall for the three murders.

Sam looked down at his hands. Hospital or jail? Which is the lesser of two evils, he thought. He laid back against the pillows and nodded.

"Good. I'll make the arrangements." The doctor nodded and left the room.

"I'm going to go out and let everyone know ok?" Wordy looked at him. Man he looks exhausted.

"Ok." Sam agreed. "Hey Wordy, can you see if you can undo one of these? I'd like to have one hand free if we can."

"Yeah no problem." Wordy smiled and walked out to the waiting room. Ed, Greg, Spike and Lew immediately surrounded him.

"How is he?" Greg asked, concern clouding his eyes.

"He's ok. He has a concussion so they're going to keep hi overnight. I think that's best. He can talk to a lawyer tomorrow and maybe see the judge? Do you think you could talk them into releasing him into your custody?" Wordy looked at Greg.

"Yeah I'll call the DA and see what they're thinking." Greg nodded and grabbed his phone. Before he dialed he pointed to a young woman who was standing off to the side. "This is Wendy from forensics. She needs Sam's clothes as part of the investigation."

Spike nodded to Wendy and said, "I'll get them."

Wendy shook her head and followed him. "I'm sorry but I have to make sure they're handled properly."

Spike looked at her. "I have to make sure Sam is handled properly."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but followed him to Sam's room.

Sam opened his eyes when Spike and Wendy walked into the room.

"Hello again Constable Braddock. I'm sorry, but I need your clothes. Where is your shirt?" She smiled at him. She didn't mean to stare, but he was bare chested. His defined chest and abs were very nice to look at. She tore her eyes from his physique and looked into his bright blue eyes. He was looking at her and giving her the biggest smile she'd ever seen.

Sam saw her staring and gave her a big smile. He pointed to the floor on his right where he'd thrown his shirt.

She pulled on a glove, picked it up and put it in a bag. She looked at him expectantly. "Jeans too please." When he just looked at her she blushed and turned around. She handed Spike a pair of gloves from the kit she brought with her. "I need you to be careful with them. Take them off as straight as you can. I need to take a picture of them before they're folded in the bag."

"Ok." Spike said. He smiled at Sam and shook his head. Even in a hospital bed Sam was charming the women.

Sam was shaking his head no at Spike. He motioned for Spike to lean closer. "Commando." He whispered.

Spike looked at him, surprised. "Oh." Spike turned and searched the cabinets until he found a Johnny. He gave it to Sam who put it across his lap. He let Sam undo his jeans and unzip them. He went to the bottom of the bed and gently pulled on each leg until they slid off. He lifted the jeans up, the legs across his arms, so Sam could pull the sheet and blanket over himself. When he did, Spike laid the jeans back on the bed. "Ok Wendy."

She grabbed her camera from the bag and turned to the bed. Naked. He's naked under there. Oh lord. Stay professional. She took several pictures of the jeans, especially noting the grass stains. After she got the jeans, carefully, into an evidence bag she looked up at Sam. "So are you left or right handed?"

"Left." Sam answered.

"So for you to shoot your body is on the left side of the gun." She put up her arms in a rifle shooting position with her left hand on an imaginary trigger.

"Right." Sam nodded.

"Perfect. Thank you." Wendy smiled, let her gaze take over him once and walked out.

When Spike was sure she was out of earshot he said, "even in the hospital you're charming the ladies." He laughed.

Sam smiled at that. He wasn't trying to, it was actually really embarrassing that he was caught going commando. Before Tolie took him to the house, he had grabbed a change of clothes but totally forgot underwear. His only choice was to go commando, he never went more than a day in one pair. He'd done that too much in the Army.

"Spike, can you go to my apartment and get me underwear, socks, sweats and a t-shirt? It'll all be in my dresser." Sam asked sheepishly. He could hide under the covers for awhile, but if he had to stay he wanted to be comfortable.

"Sure." Spike grabbed another Johnny from the cupboard and threw it to Sam. "Better put this on before you start a stampede." He laughed.

"Thanks Spike. I don't have my key, but I'll talk you through getting the spare." Sam laughed. At the confused look on Spike's face he laughed harder. What'd he think, he was going to make it easy for someone, besides Tolie, to get into his apartment?


	21. Chapter 21

When Spike returned to the hospital an hour later, he looked like he'd been through the ringer. He had a plastic bag with clothes in his hand.

Ed saw Spike and walked up to him. "You ok Spike?"

"Have you ever had to get the spare key for Sam's apartment?" Spike looked at him.

"No." Ed shook his head.

"I feel like I ran a marathon." Spike laughed. "There were like five different things I had to do to get the key and Mr. Tinkles was not very welcoming."

Ed laughed at the thought of the little dog giving Spike a hard time. "Aw did wittle Mr. Tinkles scare you?" Ed mocked.

Spike narrowed his eyes at Ed. "I have one word for you, cats." He turned and walked back into the ER.

"It was one, very scary cat!" Ed called after him.

Greg and Lew laughed as they watched the exchange.

Ed turned to them. "Never going to live that down."

Lew hid his smile with a hand and said, "nope."

Spike walked into the ER and was surprised to find Sam's room occupied by someone else. He turned to the nurse at the desk. "Where did Sam go?"

"They moved him and officer Callaghan upstairs." The nurse said without looking at him. She typed on the computer and finally looked up. "Room 227."

"Both?" Spike raised his eyebrows.

"Yes." She smiled.

"Ok thanks." Spike walked back out into the waiting room. He looked at the others and said, "they moved them to room 227."

"Good." Greg nodded. He'd asked that they be put in the same room. He knew They would both appreciate the company.

The DA said they weren't filing charges yet pending the conclusion of their investigation, but they did not want Sam unsupervised. With his Special Forces and SRU training, it would be too easy for him to slip away. They requested a guard be posted at the door. Sam was still a major suspect. They needed a few days to review the evidence and get the final report from forensics.

Based on a preliminary report from Wendy Fortoi in Forensics, it looked like Sam had been set up. Also based on his exemplary record with the Army and the SRU, they and the judge were comfortable releasing Sam to Greg's custody. A communication from a high ranking General had requested Sam be remanded to their custody but that meant he'd have to go to Ottawa and the judge had denied the request. Tthe General had been very angry and said he would take it up with someone 'higher up'.

He would remain on administrative leave from the SRU until the investigation by the DA and SIU was completed. Wordy, Lew, Spike and Ed had been relieved when Greg told them. They had each voiced their concerns about Sam going to jail. It was doubtful he'd survive the night there especially with the members of a local gang Sam had helped bust last week.

They all headed up to the room. Greg stopped them before they all went rushing in. Wordy had followed Sam and Jules up to the room and was keeping them both company. "I think we should do this in small groups so we don't overwhelm them. I'll go in first and try to get Wordy to go home. Then the three of you can go in. Afterwards, go home and get some rest. We're down two member so Team One is off until at least next week. We'll see how things play out."

"Copy." The three answered.

Greg nodded, took the bag from Spike, showed the guard his badge and went in the room. He knew it would be a good idea for there to be more people with Ed when he talked to Jules. He'd been pretty heated when he heard why Jules had fallen. "Hey guys." He smiled at Sam, then Jules.

"Sarge." They answered together then laughed.

Greg smiled. "Glad to see you both in good spirits." He walked over and handed the bag to Sam. He put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm look. "So glad you're ok."

"Thanks." Sam ducked his head. He wasn't so sure he could stand steadily enough to get the underwear and sweatpants on. He pulled the shirt over his head.

Wordy saw his embarrassment and stood. "Need a hand?" When Sam nodded Greg moved to Jules' side of the room and Wordy pulled the curtain divider. He moved to stand next to Sam so that he could use him to steady himself. He knew that Sam was still feeling dizzy.

Sam put a hand on Wordy's shoulder and shakily put his underwear on. He sat on the bed with a sigh. When Wordy looked down at him he said, "dizzy."

Wordy nodded. "No rush."

Finally Sam stood and leaned on Wordy again to get his sweatpants on. He climbed back in the bed and put his socks on. He was pulling the covers over him when Wordy pushed the curtain back.

While Sam was getting dressed Greg and Jules had a quiet conversation about her not having to do light duty since the team was off.

Greg took a breath and explained what the DA told him. "So tomorrow when you're discharged," he looked at Sam, "we'll go grab what you need from your apartment and then you're coming to live with me."

"Sarge, are you sure?" Sam asked incredulously. He didn't think he'd know what to do with someone else around. It might be nice actually.

"No question Sam." Greg pinned him with a serious look.

Wow, Sam thought. The Sarge wanted him to live with him until this was settled. Wanted. If that wasn't a huge step forward he didn't know what was. He looked at the Sarge with moist eyes. "Thanks."

Jules looked at Sam her eyes moistening too. He really thought we'd let him sit in jail? Wow we've really dropped the ball with him. She sensed a change though. When Wordy had insisted he follow them up to the room to be sure they got settled in ok she'd seen him look at Sam with the same concern and compassion he often gave her and the rest of the team. Lew and Spike had visited her after they saw Sam and they both seemed lighter and happier. It was her turn to smooth things over with Sam she knew, but she'd wait until after everyone left.

They talked about little things until Greg put a hand on Wordy's shoulder and tipped his head towards the door.

Wordy looked reluctantly at Sam and Jules, but he knew his other family would be worried. He hadn't called Shel yet to let her know what was happening. He looked at the clock, 2115. He'd missed saying goodnight to the girls. "I better get home before Shel has my hide." He smiled at them. "You guys be ok?" He looked from Jules to Sam.

They both nodded. Sam put out the hand they had freed from the cuffs in a fist to Wordy.

Wordy smiled and bumped knuckles with him. "See you later." He moved to Jules' bed and gave her a gentle hug. "Keep an eye on for me ok?" He whispered in her ear. She nodded slightly in agreement. Wordy pulled back and said in his normal voice, "feel better."

Greg moved in and gave her a hug and said he'd see them tomorrow. When Sam put up his fist again he bumped knuckles with him.

Before Spike, Ed and Lew went in, Greg gave Ed a serious look. "Go easy on her." He could see his friend's ire was already up.

"No promises." Ed said as he patted Greg's arm and walked past him.

"Keep it to a dull roar will you? This is a hospital." Greg said to Lew and Spike before they followed Ed. Both men nodded and swallowed hard. They knew this was going to be rough.

Ed walked into the room and walked straight to Jules. "Juliana Callaghan." His tone was hard.

"Ed." Sam said, but didn't say any more when Ed looked at him angrily.

"I know." Jules looked at him and winced when he used her full name. She steeled herself for the coming barrage.

"What the hell were you thinking not latching on? You could've been seriously hurt or worse." Ed raged on, only lowering his voice when Spike put a hand on his back.

Jules looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

That tamped Ed's fire down a little. He could see she felt bad. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

She heard the intake and readied herself for the next round. She was surprised when he sat on the edge of the bed and gave her a hug.

"We could've lost you." Ed said quietly. He pulled back from her and looked in her eyes with fatherly love. "Don't ever do that again"

Jules smiled. "No Sir."

Ed smiled and sat back a little on the bed. Jules was still looking at him but she moved her eyes to Sam. He followed her gaze. He put his head down and smiled. I understand Jules, he thought. He stood and went to stand by Sam's bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Ok Sir." Sam nodded.

Ed's eyebrows went up at his use of 'Sir' and sudden straightening of his posture.

Sam felt the need to be in soldier mode when Ed was around. His commanding, alpha male nature brought it out in him. That and it kept him from going back at him when he felt Ed was being unreasonable, which was a lot.

"Sam. You can drop the 'Sir' stuff." Ed shook his head. Jules had been kidding when she said it but Sam was not. He had the most to apologize for. He'd been really hard on Sam since he started with the SRU. Never really tried to connect with him. Isn't that what they were supposed to do? Connect, Respect, Protect. Ed put his hands in his pockets.

Sam looked at him and was surprised. Ed looked almost apologetic.

"Sam I have to apologize. I've been really hard on you since you started with us. I, I guess I was a little irked that we didn't get to choose you, you were just put on the team. That's not how we operated. And, I made some assumptions about your Army background. I thought it would always be shoot first ask questions later and that is definitely not how we operate.

But you've been an asset to this team. You have made some mistakes, but we all have."

"Remember when I accidentally set fire to an SUV?" Spike interjected and nodded when Sam frowned at him.

"Or when I broke my arm trying to wrestle that martial arts guy to the ground because I thought I could do it by myself?" Lew raised his eyebrows.

"Or when I. Fell off a roof. Because I didn't anchor?" Jules smiled.

Sam looked at them unbelieving.

Ed looked at each of them and smiled in turn. "Don't ever think you don't belong or matter to this team. We need you on this team. Who else could help me keep these misfits in line?" He looked at Sam seriously, but his face broke when he heard, "hey!" and "are we voted ON the island then?" "guess so. I hope Hermey still lives there I need a check up " from the others. He turned to Spike and Lew who said the last two and laughed. "Don't worry, Santa said this is your new home. You are safe."

Spike looked at Ed in surprise. He got the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer island of misfit toys/survivor double reference? Whoa.

"Clark loves Christmas movies. Rudolph is one of his favorites. And Soph loves Survivor." Ed looked at Spike and shrugged.

"You never cease to surprise me." Spike laughed.

They all laughed and settled into easy conversation with each other. Jules looked at Sam who smiled at her broadly. He was finally feeling like part of the group, she thought. He even joked with them like friends. She was so happy for him. Later, we'll talk later she promised


	22. Chapter 22

A half hour later it was quiet in their room, and Jules and Sam were each lost in their own thoughts.

Jules wondered how she was going to start the conversation when Sam did it for her.

"You ok Jules?" Sam rolled on his side and looked at her. It added to his headache to do that, but once he folded his arms under the pillows and rested his head on the pillows the pain eased a bit.

"Yeah. Bruised ribs suck." Jules wheezed.

"I did it more than once in the Army. It sucks. You just have to take it slow. No running around for a little while." He gave her a serious look.

"No running." She smiled. "My brother pushed. Me out of. A tree once. Knocked the wind. Right out of me. Dad was so mad." Jules looked up at the ceiling remembering.

"You just have the one brother?" Sam asked.

"No," she laughed, it hurt and she stopped. "Four." She said when she finally caught her breath. "all older."

"You ok?" He looked at her with concern. When she nodded, he said, "Wow. Must've been hard when you started dating."

She looked up at the ceiling. Well, he had to hear her sad story sometime, she thought. "Um, well, it. Was really tough. My mum died. When I was young. I gave Dad. A pretty hard time." Jules gave a small laugh. "My two oldest. Brothers were already. Out of the house.

I hadn't even. Gotten my first period." She looked at him, forgetting the last part may make him uncomfortable. He didn't look disgusted or uncomfortable. His eyes said, 'go on'. "So he was. Totally unprepared. Luckily I had. Someone help me. I went through. A lot." She stopped, not because she wanted to, but because talking that much made her tired.

Sam could see she was getting tired so he decided it would be better if he talked. He sat up, took his pillows and put them at the end of the bed. He winced with the pain it caused him to sit up and move down the bed. He slid the handcuff down the side rail and laid on his stomach with his free arm under the pillow. He knew she couldn't see him very well so this way she didn't have to move.

"I'm sorry about your mom. I can't imagine what that was like." He started. "I lost my other sister when I was nine."

Jules looked at him. He was looking off into space, but his choice of words is what got her attention. He lost his sister. Not 'we lost' or 'my other sister died'.

"We were walking to the store like we did almost every day. There was a pet store on the way. They always had the puppies or kittens in the window. She loved to look at them. Every day that we came home she would run up to the General and tell him all about the puppies or kitties in the window. How they'd get so excited when we stopped in front of the window that they'd fall over each other to get to her and bark and lick the window."

He smiled at the memory. Mom always put Sara's curly blond hair in pigtails or braids. That day it was pigtails. They way they bounced when she looked in the window and pointed at the puppies made him smile. That day it had been black lab puppies. He had waited patiently for her to get her fill so they could cross the street to the store.

"She wanted to stay and watch them for as long as she could, but she knew Mom and the General would get worried if we were gone too long. She looked at me with those sweet baby blues and said, 'we should go'. I took her hand and we stopped at the curb. We looked both ways, twice. I looked." He squeezed the pillow.

Jules watched him and when she saw his eyes fill, she sat up and slowly made her way to him.

He instinctively moved back so she could sit down, but he was too far in the memory to know she was there. He curled his handcuffed arm and laid on it so he was on his side. "It wasn't enough. It all happened so fast. We stepped off the curb and she pulled ahead of me. I was about to pull her back when a car came out of nowhere. It just appeared. The next thing I know, I see her little body go flying and land ten feet away." The tears were falling. "She was just gone. All that was left was her little sparkly pink sneakers. Blood. Oh god there was so much blood."

Jules haltingly put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her. It struck her how much pain was there. His eyes were two huge blue pools of guilt, sadness and pain. He sat up, unconsciously wincing and let her pull him into her arms. Not wanting to touch his head because she knew it was hurting him, she gently put her hand on his neck and rubbed softly. She put her other arm around him and held on as he cried.

When he was spent, Sam sniffed and pulled back from her. Realization dawned on him that she had gotten out of bed to comfort him even though he knew it probably hurt her. "Jules. You should be in bed." He frowned at her.

"I'm ok right. Here." She smiled at him. She felt her heart flip at the gratitude in his eyes and, was there something else there?

Sam looked down at her chest. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry-"

She put an hand on his. Whoa, she thought. A familiar feeling started in her gut. "I'm ok." She repeated. "Are you ok?" She put a hand up and ran the back of her fingers down his face.

Sam closed his eyes at the touch. He had felt a spark when she touched his hand and tried to control his face so she wouldn't see. He opened his eyes and looked at her letting nothing show. Oh I'm better than ok, he thought. "Thanks for listening." He pulled away from her for a second, he needed to get his heartbeat under control. He looked at her and pointed his chin at her bed. "C'mon. Ed and the others will kill me if they find out you got out of bed."

She smiled,stood reluctantly and made her way back to the bed. When she was settled back in bed she watched him for a minute. Was he doing sniper breathing? It looked like it, but she didn't want to ask. She fell into the rhythm and felt better. "I'm so sorry about Sara Sam. It must have been awful. For you and your family." She was glad she could get out more words before pausing.

He nodded, laid back on his stomach and looked at the wall. "Mom and the General didn't know what to do. Well, the General did. He took me to a military school. Just dropped me off there." He looked at her and decided against going into too much detail about his relationship with the General. "The one good thing is that I met Matt when I was there. We were actually rivals for a while." He smiled at the memory. This was one of his best Matt stories.

"We didn't even know about each other until Melissa May."

"Melissa May?" Jules chuckled. Was that a bit of jealousy in her voice? Weird, she thought.

"Yeah, I really didn't make any friends the first couple years I was there. It was, tough for me." He looked at her. "After Sara, and then being dropped off like I didn't matter, I was pretty angry. I kept to myself, did my schoolwork and spent my time in my room reading or going for runs. Then, one day a new girl came to our school. Melissa May." He said her name like it was a breath.

"Long brown wavy hair and the most beautiful green eyes I'd ever seen. She had a different color ribbon holding her hair back from her face every day." He sighed. He looked at Jules and cleared his throat. She had a 'ok she was gorgeous get on with it' look. "So as you can imagine all the guys wanted her to notice them. They tried a lot of different things, but Matt and I, we went out of our way to be creative.

One time I bought a couple of frilly shirts from the commissary with my allowance, cut them up and gave them to her as hair ribbons. She was kind of impressed although she said she'd seen the blouses in the commissary and was planning to buy them to wear."

Jules laughed. "It was a nice. Thought."

"Yeah." He tipped his head in a sort of shrug. "But, when Matt started trying to win her, then it really started. At first it was flowers, chocolates, whatever we could buy at the commissary. Of course that meant that we were blowing our monthly allowances and went without some basic things. I can't even tell you how many push ups we both did for not having socks or being late to class because we were trying to impress Melissa May." At her raised eyebrow he sat up, winced and shrugged.

"Well, this went on for months. We did everything to impress her." He laughed. "Matt even shaved his head because he heard her tell a friend she thought guys with shaved heads are hot. Unfortunately, Matt didn't have a very sharp razor, no money for a new one, so he cut his head up pretty bad. It looked awful!

I left little presents on top of her locker everyday like chocolates or a bracelet I made in shop class, but that backfired too. There was a heating vent above her locker so the chocolates ended up melting and making a huge mess all down hers and the surrounding lockers. She liked the bracelet, but it turned her wrist green."

"Wow. It was an. Experiment in futility." She was impressed he'd tried so hard to to make the girl like him.

"Yeah." He sighed. "She started going out with Billy Ranta shortly after the bracelet. They dated for several years before he was moved to a different school on the west coast. His dad was a Major in the Army and got assigned out there. We all understood how that worked. Anyway, so after she started dating Billy, Matt and I were completely gobsmacked. I was sitting in the yard under a tree looking at the bracelet when Matt walked up.

'I can't believed I shaved my head for her.' He said, sat down next to me and we started talking. That was all it took. We started laughing about all the stupid things we did to impress Melissa May. We sat there and talked for hours. Even while we were doing push ups for missing our last two classes of the day. It was like I found a missing part of me, you know?" He looked at her in askance but didn't let her answer.

"We were inseparable after that. We spent every second together, until we graduated from high school." He looked down. "He went right into the Army, but I didn't want to. Part of me hated the rigidity of the military part of the school. Plus, it was what the General expected of me and I would be damned if I was going to do what he expected." His tone became angry. "I joined the police academy instead. I worked in the 51st until the day I heard that Matt was missing." He paused. He hadn't meant to start talking about their time in the Army.

"So you joined. The Army to help. Find Matt?" She asked although she could see he was reluctant to talk about his Army days.

"Yes. And we did find him. He was in rough shape, but he got through it. We joined JTF2 after I got through basic." He looked at the clock and sat up, regretting the move when his head pounded. They'd been talking for hours. "I better let you get some rest." He picked up his pillows, moved them back to the head of the bed and crawled up there, pulling the handcuff as he went. He climbed under the covers and laid back against the pillows letting the pounding in his head ease.

"Ok." Jules nodded. She really wasn't that tired. She was enjoying talking to him. It felt good to talk about their lives before the SRU. It gave her some insight into who he really is. She reached up, painfully, and turned off the light over her bed.

Sam nodded, turned his light off and stared up at the ceiling.

After about 20 minutes, Jules whispered, "Sam? Are you still awake?"

Sam smiled in the dark. "Yeah." Sam said in his normal voice.

"How many full gear. Sprints you think. I'm looking at?"

"At least 20 plus five full gear runs through the course." Sam turned his head even though he couldn't see her.

"Dammit."

Sam laughed and Jules couldn't help joining him. It was good to hear him laughing, she thought. Hopefully he is exonerated and they can't put this behind them all.


	23. Chapter 23

##### Toronto General Hospital Friday, 0730 hrs #####

Sam opened his eyes and looked around. What the hell? He lifted his arm and stopped when it clanged against the bed and and hurt his wrist. He realized where he was and looked to the next bed.

"It's about time you. Woke up." Jules smiled.

Sam sat up slowly. The headache was still there, but it was better. "Morning Jules. How'd you sleep?"

"Good thanks and you?" She sat up in the bed and used the remote to let her sit up more.

"Good." He looked at the clock. Wow, so much for being up and out of the rack at 4am every day, he thought. He must've needed the rest. He and Jules had stayed up until nearly midnight talking so he was sure that was part of it too. He thought back to the conversation. They'd talked about any and everything. It'd felt like they had known each other for forever.

He looked to the ceiling. Oh Matt I'm in trouble, he thought. He tamped down the feelings he knew he shouldn't be having and called for the guard. When he came in, Sam got they guy to unlock him and let him go to the bathroom. Once he came out he returned to the bed and was reattached to it.

Jules could see on his face that he was thinking about something. She tipped her head. "You ok?"

He looked at her and gave her a lopsided grin. "All things considered? Yeah. How're you feeling?"

She nodded in understanding. "Ok. Sore." She moved to the edge of the bed and stood. Her turn to use the bathroom.

Sam tried to stand but it stretched his arm too far, he sat back on the bed. He didn't like her being out of bed, especially by herself. "Jules. Call for a nurse."

She smiled at him. "I'm ok Sam. I'm going home today. I will be walking around." The independent woman in her was annoyed at the suggestion she needed help.

"Ok." He backed off and watched her.

She made her way slowly across the room to the bathroom. After she closed the door to bathroom, she held onto the sink until she caught her breath. she opened the door to the bathroom a few minutes later and walked slowly back to the bed.

Greg walked in while Jules was making her way to the bed. He walked over to her and walked beside her until she made it to the bed. Once she sat down he stepped back so she could get back in the bed. "How're you guys feeling?"

"Sore, but ok." Jules said. She laid back against the pillows and did sniper breathing for a few breaths until she felt better.

"I'm good." Sam said. He watched Jules do sniper breathing and nodded imperceptibly when she was breathing easier.

"No more dizziness or headache?" Greg asked, looking at him.

"Little bit of a headache." Sam shrugged.

"Good. I talked to the nurses and they said they should be discharging you in a little while. Once you're both ready." He picked up the bag he had dropped by the door when he saw Jules walking to the bed alone. He handed it to Jules. "I probably didn't pick the best outfit, but I dropped by your place and grabbed you some clothes."

"Thanks Boss." She smiled and looked in the bag. Jeans and her favorite black tee with 'Feist' across the front. He even threw in some panties. She didn't want to think about Greg looking in her underwear drawer. "Perfect."

Greg nodded. "You're welcome."

She grabbed the bag and headed back to the bathroom. When Greg stood she pinned him with a dirty look and he sat back down, his hands up, palms out. She made her way to the bathroom and went in. After a minute or two they heard the shower run.

"So how did you end up at Ella's house Sam?" Greg asked.

Sam took a breath. He was glad Greg wanted to hear his side. "I walked out of that house in the woods, and there was Disney. I was only sort of surprised to see him. I knew that if he was there Tolie had called in a uni solid." At Greg's confused look, he explained. "Each unit is considered a family, so when a family member says they need you, you go. The last thing I remember is telling Walt that Tolie wanted to kill Teresa. The next thing I know, I'm at Ella's and-" he paused feeling the guilt rise in him, "she and the two officers are dead."

Greg nodded in understanding. "It was very smart to have forensics photograph you at the scene. Hopefully it proves you're innocent.." He smiled.

"When I woke up I had looked to my right and saw that Disney had dragged me in front of the gun and had tried to hide it. There was still a little bit of evidence there. Thank god the Team Two guys listened to me." He looked at Greg with hope in his eyes. "You believe me?"

Greg frowned. "Why wouldn't I believe you Sam?"

Sam looked down. "I don't know."

"Yes you do." Greg sighed when Sam didn't answer. "I'm sorry Sam." He shook his head. How had they gotten here? "I should've seen. Should've heard. The team hasn't, been what it should be. We've misjudged you. I've misjudged you and I'm sorry. So sorry."

Sam gave him a sympathetic look. "It's ok. I was put on the team, not chosen. It's bound to cause issues. Plus I've been making a lot of mistakes-" He put a hand up.

Greg shook his head. "We all need to work on things. I'll talk to everyone."

Sam lifted his hand higher and put it palm out. "I've already talked to everyone else. We're all good."

Greg looked at him surprised. "Oh. So.."

Sam smiled. "Honest Sarge. We're good."

Greg smiled back at him. He felt a pang of love and pride for his team. They had realized they had made mistakes with Sam and had fixed it. Or had started the process. Still, he needed to do something as head of the team to help cement their new bonds.

Jules had been sitting on the closed toilet seat fully dressed and listening. She smiled when she heard Sam say everything was good. She stood and opened the door. She looked at Sam as she made her way to the bed and said, "showers free."

I wish I had been in there with you, he thought. He quickly tamped that down and said, "thanks. Feel better?"

She nodded. "Glad to be back in. My own clothes."

Sam lifted his handcuffed wrist and gave Greg a questioning look.

Greg stood, called the officer in, pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. As he stood he said, "Samuel W. Braddock, you are now in my custody. You are to remain with me at all times until you are told otherwise by me, the DA or SIU. Do you understand?"

Sam worked to keep his body from stiffening. He wondered if that part of him would ever fade. This is not the military, no need for formalities. "Yes." He still almost added the 'Sir' to the end but was able to stop himself.

The officer nodded and left. He was now off duty.

Greg noticed his efforts not to move into a more formal posture. He also noticed the lack of 'Sir' after he answered. He could see it took considerable effort to not to revert to his ingrained actions and words from the military. "Good." He smiled.

Sam stood, grabbed his bag from under the bed with the clothes Spike had gotten for him including his shaving kit and headed into the bathroom. He thought about how he was going to change the key retrieval process now that Spike had used it. Why do I need to, he chastised himself. It's Spike. I trust him in my apartment. He smiled at that thought as he striped and got in the shower.

Jules looked at Greg admiringly. "Good talk." She stood, pulled the covers over and made the bed before she sat down again.

Greg nodded. "So, you didn't latch on?"

Jules sighed. Crap, she thought. Ed's yelling was not the end of it. "I'm sorry Sarge. I don't know what I was thinking. I've never done that. Ever." She shook her head at her thoughtlessness.

"You got caught up in the emotion of it. We had just found Sam, he was in cuffs and we had to rescue a baby. It was hard for all of us." Greg said understandingly.

"Yeah but-"

"Jules." He stopped her. "I'm not trying to kick you when you're down. We're all human. We all make mistakes. I just need to make sure we all keep our heads in what we're doing." He looked at her, seriousness in his brown eyes. "I don't know what I would've done if we lost you."

Jules closed her eyes for a second. I understand, she thought. His protectiveness and fatherly love touched her heart. "I know."

The nurse and doctor came in and checked Jules' vitals, making sure she could breathe well enough to be released. The doctor said he would sign off on her release and they waited for Sam to emerge from the bathroom so they could get everything together at once.

They didn't have to wait long, Sam walked out of the bathroom and sat on the bed so the doc could look him over. It only took a few minutes and the doc said he would release Sam as well. They left to get the paperwork done. The nurse returned 15 minutes later with their discharge papers.

Spike walked in pushing a wheelchair followed by the nurse with a second one. "Giddy up!" He smiled at Jules.

"Hey Spike!" Jules laughed.

"How you guys feeling?" Spike asked looking at them in turn.

"Better." Jules answered.

"Ready to go." Sam smiled. The nurse pulled the chair up next to Sam who looked at her incredulously. "I'm good."

"It's policy Constable." She said sternly and tipped her chin to the chair.

Sam stood and sat in the chair, grumbling under his breath about not being an invalid.

Jules laughed and sat in the other chair glad for the ride. Her ribs were really sore and her breathing was better, but still a bit labored. She knew she'd have to camp on the couch until going up and down the stairs didn't seem so daunting.

The nurse handed them their discharge papers and read what she needed to about aftercare and when to come back. Sam's was easy, come back if the headache doesn't go away or gets worse, follow up with his primary and he was clear to return to work. For Jules, they wanted her to come back immediately if her breathing got any worse, light duty for at least a week and follow up with her primary.

They made sure both had everything and they were wheeled out of the hospital. Outside the hospital, they said their goodbyes.

"See ya later." Sam waved to Jules and Spike. He had gotten out of the wheelchair as soon as they were outside the hospital doors, much to the chagrin of the nurse.

"Take care." Jules gave him a soft smile.

"You missed a great moviefest pig out." Spike looked at Sam with amusement. "We'll have to try again soon." He tossed Sam his spare key.

"Absolutely." Sam caught it, smiled and chuckled when Jules rolled her eyes.

"We'll be in touch." Greg said to Jules after he hugged her. He made sure she got in Spike's car ok and shut the door. He looked at Spike. He knew he didn't have to say it but he did anyway, "make sure she gets settled in ok."

Spike smiled and said, "will do Boss." He climbed in the car and they took off.

"Well." Greg put his arm out towards his car.

Sam walked to the car and got in the passenger side. When Greg got in the driver's side he said, "let's get the hell out of here."

Greg smiled. "Yes." They spent way too much time in and out of this hospital, he thought. Cost of doing the job sometimes. As long as they all walked out of there, it was a price worth paying.


	24. Chapter 24

##### Jules' house, 1015 hrs #####

Spike stopped the car in front of Jules' house. He tipped his chin at the house and said, "there you go. Get out." His face was serious.

Jules frowned at him and punched his arm.

"Ow!" Spike laughed. "C'mon! You know better than that!"

Jules laughed and opened her door.

Spike's eyebrows went up, he jumped from the car and ran to her side. He waited for her to get out and grab her bag. He didn't touch her, just let her walk at her own pace. He knew she'd hate being coddled.

Jules was glad he hadn't tried to help her to the house. She could walk fine, she just had to take a break before they made the twenty feet up the walk to the door. She rummaged in her bag for the key and unlocked the door while she caught her breath. She threw her keys on the table next to the door and walked to the living room. She sat on the couch and sat back.

Spike watched her for a second, concern etched on his face. When he was sure she seemed ok he went upstairs and into her room.

Jules watched him and frowned. What is he doing, she thought.

Spike grabbed the pillows and blankets from her bed, folding the blankets as neatly was he could manage. He brought those down to the living room and put them in the lazy boy next to the couch. "What else? Oh." He went back upstairs into her room and came back down ten minutes later, his arms full.

Jules watched with interest as he made the second trip upstairs and came back with clothes and her toiletries. "Aww Spike." She gave him an appreciative look.

"Anything else you can think of you may need from up there? I don't think the stairs are a good idea for a little bit." Spike put his hands on his hips.

Jules looked over what he brought down, shampoo, conditioner, razor, body wash, pouf, toothbrush and toothpaste. He'd done well. She looked up at him with appreciation and love in her eyes. "Thank you so much Spike. This is perfect." She smiled and patted the couch next to her. "You don't have to run off, unless you have something else planned."

Spike smiled at her. Go back to my house where my father and I barely speak and my Ma keeps asking when I'm going to bring a nice Italian girl home? No thanks. "I'm good."

Jules turned on the TV and they sat in companionable silence.

##### Greg's apartment 1015 hrs #####

Greg unlocked the door and walked into the apartment with Sam following. He walked into the spare room and put Sam's suitcase on the bed. Sam followed him and put his gym bag on the floor. He felt like a lump because he hadn't run or done anything physical so far today. He knew a run was out of the question with his headache, put he always did something.

"Thanks again for this." Sam said as he put his clothes into the dresser. "I know it's an intrusion-"

Greg put a hand up. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He looked to the door and changed his hand to a thumb pointing towards the door. "I'll let you get settled."

"Ok." Sam shrugged.

Greg walked into the living room and sat on the couch. He turned on the TV and started watching the news. They were talking about the situation with Tolie, Disney and the baby. The newscaster also indicated that there was a possible third person involved, an SRU officer. Sam's official SRU photo flashed on the screen.

The newscaster was making it sound like the SRU had become corrupt because Sam was a suspect. She looked into the camera and said with a gleam in her eye that she had not gotten any comment from the SRU on this matter, making it sound like they were trying to cover something up.

Greg's cell rang. He grabbed it from his pocket and looked at the number. Halloren, crap. He muted the TV. "Sergeant Parker." listens "Yes Sir." listens "Yes he's here. I don't think we should." listens "Well there isn't much to say." listens "Of course. No, I mean I can just tell them-" stops and listens "Ok, we'll be here." Greg turned around to find Sam standing outside his room.

"They're making it seem like it's some kind of conspiracy." Sam said looking at the silent TV. He wanted to reach through the TV and throttle the lady. They didn't know the full story dammit.

"I know." Greg held up his cell phone. "Halloren just called."

"What'd he say?" Sam watched his picture flash on the tv again. Oh man, the General is going to be pissed, he thought.

"That we should make a statement to the press. I told him there isn't much to say and he said to tell them that. He also said that the General called him and we are to wait here until his lawyer arrives." Greg said.

His lawyer, Sam thought. Heaven forbid he drop what he's doing and come here when I might need him. Typical. He called Halloren, not me but the Commander of the SRU. The Commander is a friend of his, but he didn't think to call me. Damn him. Sam crossed his arms across his chest.

Greg could see the anger fill Sam's eyes. "Sam? You ok?"

Sam looked at him and put his mask firmly in place. He refused to let anyone see how much his father, or lack thereof, bothered him. "Yeah." He nodded.

Greg narrowed his eyes at Sam. He was trying to discern which part of what he just said made Sam put up the mask he'd let down the past day or so. "A statement to the press doesn't mean anything. You have the support of Team One and the whole SRU." Greg watched his face, no reaction.

"Thanks." Sam said distractedly as he continued to watch the news, the volume on again.

Greg watched him until Sam turned to look at him and frowned. "What?" He was trying not to take his anger out on Greg, but it wasn't working.

"Just wondering why you're agitated all of a sudden." Greg said with concern.

"Sorry." Sam looked away and put his index finger to his mouth, chewing absently, his thumb along his jawline. It kept him from saying what he wanted to say about the damned General.

Shutdown, Greg thought. Time to back off. "Uh, so any thoughts on what you want for lunch? We can order out if you want." Greg walked around a wall into the kitchen and pulled out some take out menus.

"Um. Maybe." Sam broke out of his reverie and walked to Greg. Eating was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He sifted through them and found one that looked semi-appetizing. He handed the menu to Greg. "I'm not hungry right now though."

"No problem." Greg looked at the menu with a huge grease stain on it. "Moe's Cafe it is." He walked to the kitchen and put the menu down.

There was a knock at the door and Greg went to it, looking at Sam as he walked there. He looks nervous and agitated, he thought. He opened the door and found a uniformed officer standing there.

"Sir, I am Lieutenant Antonio Stevens from JAG. I need to speak to Master Corporal Braddock." The dark haired man, in full uniform and hat under his arm, saluted Greg.

Greg saluted, moved to the side and put a hand out in a come in gesture. "I'm Sergeant Greg Parker of the police SRU. Sam is one of my officers. Please come in Lieutenant."

"Thank you Sir." Lieutenant Stevens nodded and stepped into the apartment. He walked straight to Sam who was standing at attention. "At ease Master Corporal." When Sam moved to parade rest, he smiled. "How are you Sammy?"

Sam smiled and pulled the man into a hug. "Hey Tony. It's been awhile." He slapped Tony on the back and then moved to stand next to him, his arm over Tony's shoulders. At Greg's interested look, Sam said, "Tony and I went through basic together. We parted ways after, but I needed JAG a couple times and Tony helped me out."

"Yeah, what'd you get yourself into this time?" Tony looked at him incredulously.

Greg walked to them and pointed to the dining room table abutting the couch. "You can sit here if you like or the couch, whichever works for you. I'll just go to my room and let you talk." He started to move away but was stopped when Sam spoke.

"You can stay Sarge." Sam said. When Greg looked at him he gave him a half-smile.

"Ok. Well let's get to it." Tony shrugged and moved to the couch followed by Sam and Greg. "We have to meet the DA at 1400 to give your statement."

Over the next two hours they went over Sam's statement several times, making sure they knew and understood every detail. They broke for lunch and then headed to the DA's office.

"Hi, I'm Quinton Fortnie." The DA greeted them before leading them to a interrogation room. He stopped and led Greg to the observation side of the room.

Forty minutes later, Quinton was pacing in front of the coffee table, pinching his nose. "So Tolie threatened to tell your team about a friendly fire incident from your time together in JTF2?"

"Yes." Sam nodded.

"Care to tell me about that and why that might be a motivator?"

Sam looked at him, hurt in his eyes. "No."

"That is a matter of national security, but it was a painful experience for my client. One he had yet to share with his team which made him fearful of what they would think of him." Tony cut in.

"Ok," Quinton said hesitantly, "and what other threats did he make when you questioned him?"

"He said that he would 'make them suffer'." Sam answered making air quotes with his fingers.

"What did that mean to you?"

"That he would," Sam took a breath, "kill them slowly, taking pleasure in causing them pain."

"Making you feel responsible for it?"

"Yes. It would be my fault." Sam looked at his hands.

"Anything else? Any other threats?"

"Yes. He threatened Natalie."

"Who's that?"

"My sister. He said he would," Sam couldn't keep the anger from his voice. "Have fun with her, kill her and make me watch."

In the observation room Greg looked at the floor. His heart broke for what Sam went through. He didn't know any of this.

"I would say that's a lot of motivation."

"Yes."

"Ok." Quinton took a breath. "So when did this guy Disney become involved?" He frowned.

"I didn't know he was until yesterday." Sam put a hand out, palm up. "I walked out of the house we were staying in and he was out there talking to Tolie. I was surprised. I thought it would be just Tolie and I."

"Why?"

"If I there was a way to stop him, I was going to do it. I couldn't let him go through with it." Sam shrugged. "I had to try. A life was threatened."

"So you knew what his intentions were."

"He'd told me he wanted to make her pay and then when he showed me the guns, tape and garbage bag in a box it was clear he wanted to kill her. I couldn't let him do that. So I wanted to try to talk Disney out of it, but I was knocked out."

"Use your training, try to diffuse the situation.

"Yes."

Ok. So let's talk about Ella's house."

"Ok." Sam nodded.

"So when you woke up you saw?"

"The broken glass of the patio door, a person down on the couch and one on the floor. The windshield of the patrol car was broken and there was a dead officer inside." Sam recalled.

"So what did you do?"

"I took in the situation and knew that I had to wait for unis to come."

"You didn't have any thoughts of leaving or what it would look like?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "I realized that I'd been set up and that Disney or Tolie had taken the baby. I assumed it was Disney because Tolie wouldn't have been able to carry me."

"How did you know you were carried?"

"I was out cold. No other way." Sam shrugged.

"Ok so the unis showed up and you just waited?"

"Yes. They sent three SRU officers to my position on the hill because one of the arriving officers saw me with the rifle."

"What happened when they showed up?"

"I asked them to walk careful and preserve the scene and asked they have forensics come."

"Is that protocol?" He frowned at Sam.

"No. I knew them and I told them what had happened. They trusted me."

"I'm impressed you had enough presence of mind to have forensics photograph you and the gun." Quinton raised an eyebrow at him. "What made you think of it?"

"My SRU training. We're not allowed to disturb a crime scene if we have to take a lethal shot. I knew I had to preserve the scene. Especially with-" Sam's voice broke and Tony gave him an encouraging look to continue. "With the three bodies"

Quinton asked several more questions, but finally said, "I think we have all we need here."

Sam and Tony both stood, nodded to him and walked out. Tony looked at Sam as they walked out of the room. "How're you holding up Sam?"

"Ok." Sam looked at him. I just want this over with, he thought.

Greg walked out of the observation room and gave Sam a small smile.

"So. Now what?" Sam asked Tony.

"Now we wait. I'll let you know when they make a decision on charges. Try to relax. I think we're ok." Tony put a hand on Sam's shoulder and squeezed.

Sam nodded and pulled Tony into a hug. "Thanks for coming."

Tony smiled warmly. "No problem. I'll talk to you soon." Tony pointed his finger at Sam as he turned and walked out.

"Let's head back." Greg smiled at Sam. As they walked out of the building, they were swarmed by reporters with microphones and cameras.


	25. Chapter 25

Sam and Greg stopped cold and stared at the group, blinking after the flashes went off. All of them were talking at once.

Sam winced when the flashes went off. His damned headache was back.

Greg recovered first and put a hand up for them to quiet down. "I'm Sergeant Greg Parker of the Strategic Response Unit. I'm glad you're here. The SRU would like to make a formal statement to the press. We are unable to comment on an on-going investigation, but we are investigating the incident at Ella Montoya's home. That's all we have right now. No questions." Greg put up a hand and nodded to Tony who had made his way through the crowd to them while Greg was making his statement.

Tony put a hand up to Sam and put it around Sam's elbow when he stepped forward. "Come on." He said quietly.

The group erupted into shouted questions as Greg, Sam and Tony made their way to Greg's car. Tony pushed through the crowd using his commanding military voice saying things like, "excuse me ma'am. Sir, one side please." Once they were finally inside the car, Tony said, "sorry. They weren't gathered like that when I went out. They swarmed from out of nowhere."

Sam sat on the rear passenger seat looking out at them. He winced when the flashes went off, but he kept his face passive. He wished he could just tell them what happened, but he knew they would probably try to twist it against him. Their calls were never made public anyway. He looked up at Greg and Tony and the car moved forward. He frowned when they both looked blurry. He rubbed his eyes and it didn't seem to go away. Man this headache sucks, he thought. He put his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. The light was bothering him anyway. It didn't take long before he was asleep.

After a few minutes of silence from the back seat, Greg turned and looked at Sam. He was surprised to see he was asleep. He looked at Tony.

Tony looked in the rearview and chuckled. "He can sleep anywhere."

"Yeah I think he's still recovering from the concussion." Greg said worriedly.

"Don't worry, he's tough. He'll be fine." Tony smiled.

When they got back to Greg's, Tony helped Greg carry Sam inside. They'd tried to wake him but it didn't work. They got Sam into the apartment and laid out on his bed.

Greg closed the door to Sam's room and motioned Tony to the kitchen. When they were there he said, "how long do you think?"

"Hopefully only a day or two. Who knows with the weekend though."

"Ok. Thanks for your help Tony." Greg smiled.

Tony smiled back, said goodbye and left.

Greg went to the couch and sat down. Two hours later he heard a thump and Sam yelling. He jumped up from the couch and ran into Sam's room. Sam was on the floor, arms and legs flailing, fighting with the sheet. "Sam? Sam! Wake up it's Greg!" He put a hand on Sam's arm and Sam yanked violently away. Ok, he thought, how do I bring him out of the dream?

Sam was lost in the dream. He was trying to get through to Tolie, but he wasn't listening. "Listen to me dammit." He said aloud. "You don't want to do this." He didn't understand why he was so wrapped up in his harness.

He's negotiating with someone, Greg thought. "Sam what's the threat level?"

"No!" He reached out a hand and started to cry. "Tolie!" He yelled and opened his eyes. Where am I, he thought. What was I just doing? Oh man, my head is killer. He laid back for a minute, willing the headache to go away. He finally sat up and realized he was on the floor, tangled up with the sheet. "Oh." He didn't even remember the car ride home or how he got to bed. He looked up and saw Greg. "Hey."

Greg knelt down, but didn't dare touch him. "That was quite the dream. You ok?"

Sam blinked and climbed up on the bed pulling the sheet and pillow back with him. "Um. Yeah." Sam looked at Greg but there were two of them.

Greg was reluctant to leave. He could see that Sam wasn't ok, but he didn't want to push him. He stood and waited.

"Sorry about the bed." Sam stood and was immediately sorry. His vision swam. He stood still for a second and let it pass. Even though it hurt his head, he bent down and straightened the bed.

"It's ok." Greg shrugged and tipped his head to try to see Sam's face. Something seemed off. "I'm going to get out of your hair. If you want to sleep some more, that's fine. Whatever you want."

"Ok." Sam nodded slowly. He was still dizzy so he sat on the eyes felt so heavy. He laid back gently on the pillow and was instantly asleep.

Greg backed out of the room and closed the door. He wondered what that was about. That was a pretty violent dream and Sam had been trying to negotiate with Tolie. Negotiate what? To keep Tolie from killing himself? He went and sat on the couch. Something didn't seem right. I'll have to try again when he wakes up, he thought.

It was 2030 hrs before Sam emerged from the bedroom. Even though he'd slept for four hours, he still looked tired. His stomach wouldn't let him sleep any more so he got up. "Hey Sarge. You hungry?" Sam yawned and rubbed his belly.

Greg turned on the couch and looked at him. "I actually ate a while ago. Sorry, I wasn't sure how long you'd be out. The menu is in the kitchen if you want to order."

"That's ok. I didn't think I was that tired." Sam shrugged and went to the kitchen. The menu for Moe's didn't look appealing anymore. He pulled open the drawer a little harder than he meant to and the contents shifted, making noise.

"You find what you need?" Greg called. He looked over the couch towards the kitchen.

"Yeah." Sam answered. He pulled out a Timmy's menu and grabbed the phone. A few minutes later he was in the couch beside Greg, mask firmly in place.

"I'm sorry you had a bad dream." Greg looked at Sam, compassion in his eyes. They had been sitting in silence for several minutes and he had been itching to start a conversation.

"Thanks." Sam answered dully. He felt bad he was being sullen and looked at Greg. Turning his head hurt it so he did it slowly. "It was pretty bad." He agreed.

"Yeah you were thrashing around a lot." Greg raised an eyebrow at him. I won't push, but I hope he can tell me what's bothering him, he thought. Obviously something is.

Sam chuckled. "I was caught up in a harness. So weird."

"Very." Greg nodded. "Who were you talking to?"

"Uh," Sam looked down and winced internally. Dammit, he thought, why does my head hurt so bad? "Tolie. I was hanging outside a window, he was inside a, a building I think. The outside was brick, but I could only see in the room he was in." Sam looked at him and cursed himself for moving his head so much.

"You were focused on only him."

"Yeah. He had a, um, gun to his throat. I couldn't stop him." He laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. I couldn't save him, he thought. I drove him to it. I'm sorry Tolie. I'm sorry.

"Sam." Greg said gently and waited for him to open his eyes. When he did, he said, "it's not your fault. He made the choice. It was his finger on the trigger, not yours."

"I put him there. He may not have been in an irrational state of mind if I hadn't-" Sam stopped. Part of him wanted to tell Greg about Matt. A part of him was scared to know what Greg would think of him. Of all the lives he's ruined with his actions.

Greg waited. Based on Sam's behavior, he knew he couldn't push him.

Sam looked at the ceiling. What do I do Matt, he thought. The answer came quickly. He can help, he will not judge. Haltingly, Sam told Greg about the accident with Matt and Tolie. He had kept his gaze on the wall in front of him, but he dared a glance at Greg. He saw understanding and acceptance. No pity, no disgust that he had done such a horrible thing. Again, he was amazed.

"I can see what you mean, but it wasn't just the accident with Matt Sam. Teresa cheating on him, him losing his cool, beating the lover and his behavior after that was all him. It's his fault." He looked at Sam and could see what he was saying was slowly sinking in. "You didn't make him do all that. I'm sorry that he took that way out, but that's not your fault either. Do you understand?."

Sam was still staring at the wall, but he turned to look at Greg. His eyes watered and the tears fell freely.

Greg pulled Sam gently into a hug. "It's ok." He said softly.

After a few minutes, Sam pulled away from him, stood and walked slowly to the bathroom. After he blew his nose and returned to the couch, Greg asked, "you're moving kind of slow. Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah. You have any ibuprofen?" Sam stood when the doorbell rang.

"How many?" Greg stood and asked as he headed to the bathroom.

"Three." Sam opened the door, paid for his food and sat at the table.

"Headache?" Greg asked as he put the ibuprofen in front of Sam and sat in the other chair at the small table.

"Mm-hmm." Sam answered between mouthfuls.

"Bad?"

"No. This should take care of it." Sam picked up the pills, popped them in his mouth and followed them with water.

"Ok, well," Greg put both hands on the table and stood. "Let me know if it gets any worse ok?"

"Ok." Sam nodded. When Greg stood and turned his back, Sam winced. It better get rid of it, he thought. I don't want to take anything stronger, it makes me loopy. I get loopy and who knows what I'll say or do. He thought back to the time he'd broken his nose, sprained a wrist and a bruised a few ribs. Matt had snuck up on him in his perch and scared him. It scared him so bad that he'd fallen out of his perch onto the hard desert sand.

He was in a lot of pain so they'd given him some of the good drugs. He'd been so doped up that he ran out of the makeshift hospital completely naked and had streaked across the entire encampment before Matt tackled him with a blanket. He had then loudly professed his undying love for Matt as he was carried back to medical. It had been so embarrassing and he'd been picked on about it for months afterwards. I will never go through that again, he thought.


	26. Chapter 26

##### Jules's apartment, Saturday 0930 hrs #####

"Come on Callaghan, get the lead out!" Ed yelled into Jules' house from the front door and immediately felt bad. She's still sore you idiot, he thought. He'd really only meant it as a joke.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jules stepped out of the downstairs bathroom and mumbled as she headed for the door. She didn't hurry, she knew that would just make her out of breath sooner. She gave Ed a piercing look as she walked past him.

"Sorry Jules." Ed said regretfully.

Jules gave him a semi-smile. "Remember that next time. You say that to Sophie."

Ed rolled his eyes and walked beside Jules down the front walk. He kept himself ready in case she needed help, but walked with ease.

They reached his car and he opened the door for her.

Jules gave him an impressed look.

"What? A gentleman always opens a door for a lady." He said as he climbed in the driver seat.

"Well, I guess chivalry. Isn't dead." Jules smiled. "So was anyone else in the. Gym this morning?"

Ed smiled as he pulled away from her house.. "Wordy, Lew and Spike. We missed you, but it's understandable."

"As soon as I'm better. I'm going for a run. Or something. I feel like a bump. On a log."

"Yeah just don't push it too much and start up too soon." Ed cautioned.

"I won't." Jules said although she was thinking, ha! Fat chance! I'd go for a jog today if I thought I could. At least I didn't have to take a break on the walk. That's some improvement.

They made easy conversation until they pulled up to Greg's apartment building. Luckily there was an elevator so Jules didn't have to attempt the three flights of stairs to Greg's apartment.

Greg jumped up from the couch when he heard the knocking. He looked at the closed door to Sam's room, then proceeded to the door. "Hey guys." He whispered.

Ed frowned. "Hey." He whispered back. He and Jules walked in and he looked around the apartment. No Sam.

"He's still sleeping." Greg explained.

It was Jules' turn to frown. "Wow. I figured he'd be up and itching for a run." She whispered. They moved to the living room and sat on the couch. "He told me he's up at four every morning on the dot even on the weekend."

"Yeah I think the concussion has taken a lot out of him." Greg nodded. "He's been really sleepy. He slept for four hours after we got back from the courthouse, ate and then an hour later fell asleep on the couch."

"Wow." Ed frowned deeper. "Does he seem depressed or anything?"

"No. We had a great talk after he ate. He did say he had a headache, but it wasn't bad. He took some ibuprofen." Greg leaned forward a little and looked at Ed at the other end of the couch.

Sam could hear the familiar voices through the door, but he couldn't get to them. His head was literally pounding on the pillow. He could feel every heartbeat bumping his brain. He'd been awake since 0700, woken by his pounding head and had been drifting in and out since then. Unable to do anything else, he drifted back to sleep, hoping that would help the headache.

Ed did what he could to wait until just after ten to go check on Sam. Greg had said he went to sleep around 2130. He was pushing twelve hours. It worried him, especially when Greg mentioned the headache. He finally stood and went to Sam's door. He knocked softly and stuck his head in. "Sam?" He whispered. Sam had his arm over his eyes and was laying very still. When Sam didn't move, he walked to him and knelt down. He was surprised to see tears running down Sam's cheek.

"Sam?" Ed repeated a little louder. When he saw Sam cringe he went back to a whisper. "Headache?"

"Yeah."

"How bad?"

"Hospital. Need meds." It was all Sam could manage to say. Anything else hurt his head too much.

"Ok. Can you stand?" Ed asked, his heart kicked into gear.

"No. Hurts." Sam laid still.

"Ok. I'll be right back." Ed turned and left the room. He walked quickly to the phone and picked it up. He dialed 911 and waited for the operator to answer. "Hi. This is Ed Lane from the SRU, I need an ambulance to this location. I have a male, mid-twenties with a severe headache and we are unable to move him."

Jules heard him, gasped and ran into Sam's bedroom. She knelt next to the bed and said, "Sam, it's Jules. Hold on, they're coming ok?"

Greg was right behind Jules and moved to the other side of the bed. He took Sam's free hand and squeezed. "We got ya buddy."

Ed walked back to the room and stood in the doorway. This is bad, he thought, especially with a concussion. Five minutes later the EMTs knocked on the door. Ed answered and showed them to Sam's room. "Jules. Greg. Come on." He motioned to them.

Greg stood and walked out of the room, but Jules refused. She shook her head vehemently. "I'm staying." She moved around to the other side of the bed and took his free hand.

"Have you ever had a headache like this before?" The dark haired medic asked.

"No." Sam whispered.

The blonde medic used a pen light and tried to look in Sam's eyes but he pulled away. "That hurt your eyes?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah." Sam squeezed Jules' hand. It felt so good to have her hand in his. Comforting and it felt like it was made to fit.

"Ok. I'm going to start an IV while my partner talks to your friend." The blonde said.

"K,"

Jules let go of his hand but whispered, "I'll be right back." She followed the brunette medic to just outside the door. Before the medic could ask anything, Jules said, "he got a concussion Thirsday. I don't think we should waste. Any time getting him to. The hospital." When the EMT gave her a funny look at her speech she said, "bruised ribs. Fell off a roof."

The EMT noddedin understanding. "Ok. Yes. That's what I was going to ask. Did he stay in the hospital?"

"Overnight for observation." Greg answered. "Can you give him anything?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes. Once Joe gets the IV in we can give him some morphine." The brunette turned and went back in the room and Jules followed. She went back to her position at the side of his bed and took his hand. "I'm here." Her heart broke for him, hIs face was etched with pain.

"Thanks." He whispered. He had to take his arm off of his head for the damned IV, but he kept his eyes closed. He could smell her perfume when she entered the room.

"Ok Sam. We're going to roll you on your side so we can get the backboard." Joe, the blonde EMT said. "I gave you a little morphine, so it should be kicking in shortly.

"K."

They called Ed in and everyone got in position. Joe nodded to them. He held Sam's head while they log rolled him. Jules and the brunette held Sam's body up while Ed slid the backboard under him.

"Ugh." Sam winced when they lifted him up and put him back down.

They got Sam loaded onto the stretcher and wheeled him to the elevator. It was lucky that it was wide enough to fit the stretcher in, otherwise it would've been a horribly bumpy ride down the stairs for Sam. They were able to fit one of the medics and Jules had insisted she ride down with Sam. She was going to ride with him to the hospital and Ed and Greg would follow. Joe followed Greg and Ed down the stairs,

Once they had Sam loaded in the ambulance, Jules climbed in and they closed the doors. She took Sam's hand and again wondered at the warm fuzzies she got from that small gesture. No, she told herself. Stop it. She looked at Sam and focused on his current situation. I hope he's ok, please let him be ok, she pleaded the cosmos.


	27. Chapter 27

Jules watched worriedly as Sam was rolled into the ER. He'd said on the way that the morphine hadn't done anything to help his headache. They'd had to use the lights, but no siren because Sam couldn't take the noise. She walked into the waiting room and sat down.

A few minutes later Ed and Greg walked in. Ed gave Greg a worried look after he saw Jules sitting in the waiting room leaning over her elbows on her knees.

"He'll be ok Jules." Ed sat down next her and put a hand on her back.

"He's in so much pain." Her voice waivered. "More than he was telling us." She looked at Greg who had taken the seat on the other side of her. "He's had a headache off and on since Thursday. It got worse yesterday. You said he told you he had a headache when he woke up right?"

"Yeah but he said it wasn't that bad. I don't understand why he wouldn't tell me it was as bad as it was." Greg shook his head.

"I don't know." Jules shook her head too. Why would he hide it?

Ten minutes later, Wordy, Lew and Spike walked into the ER and over to Jules, Ed and Greg.

"What happened?" Spike asked. When Ed had called he'd said to meet them at the ER and that Sam was taken by ambulance.

"Really bad migraine, we think. We couldn't get him out of bed. He said it hurt too much." Ed explained.

"He's been sleeping a lot since we went to the DA's office to give his statement. He said last night that he had a headache. I gave him some ibuprofen and he said that should take care if. He made it sound like it was no big deal." Greg said guiltily.

Spike looked at Lew then back to Greg. "No one's blaming you Boss."

"I should've known." Greg gritted his teeth. "But he was so defensive. I didn't want to push." He hung his head.

"Why was he defensive?" Lew asked as Spike sat next to Greg.

"I don't really know." Greg sighed. "We were watching the news coverage on the situation when I got a call from Halloren. He wanted me to give a press conference and said the General had called and was sending his lawyer."

"The General called Halloran?" Jules frowned. "Not Sam?" she looked at the ground, thinking back to what Sam told her. "I'm sure that was it. He doesn't have a very good relationship with him." When they all looked at her questioningly she said simply, "that's his Dad and it's a sore spot." She wasn't going to tell them any more. It wasn't her place. Sam told her lots of things when they stayed up late the night before, many of them personal. None she would ever repeat.

The same doctor from the day before when Sam and Jules were admitted came out to the waiting room forty minutes later. The group was relieved it was the same one, he would know Sam's history. "Hello again, although I had hoped we wouldn't be seeing Sam again so soon. May I ask who Sam was with since he was released?"

"I was." Greg said guiltily.

The doctor smiled. "Sam wanted me to tell you it's not your fault."

Greg snorted and nodded his head.

"So how has he been since he was released? Did he have this headache from the start?" The doctor folded his arms across his chest and tipped his head to the side.

"Sleepy. Between yesterday afternoon and today he was sleeping for close to 20 hours. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from the DA's office, slept for like four hours, then ate and went back to bed until we called the ambulance." Greg stated.

"How was his mood?" The doctor asked.

"He was kind of irritable, but if he had a headache that whole time I can understand. Plus something else that came up." Greg eyed the doctor. He could see the older man was putting pieces together.

"He mentioned being dizzy too. Did he say anything about that to you?"

"No. He was moving kind of slow, but when I asked he waved it off." Greg thought back to what the nurse had told them to look for at discharge. The doctor had just asked about all of them. Dammit why hadn't he seen?

"Mmm. Well he also probably didn't tell you about the blurry vision either." The doctor looked at Greg and could see the answer was no so he continued. "This does happen sometimes with concussion patients. It's called post-concussion syndrome. There isn't a definitive test to test for it, but we can run some diagnostics. Sam's symptoms fit it, but tests will rule out anything else."

"What else could it be?" Wordy asked worriedly.

"Well, things like bleeds in the brain, poisoning or infection. There was a significant time from when the injury occurred to when he was treated." The doctor answered as he ticked the things off on his fingers.

"So it could be life threatening?" Jules asked from beside Greg, unable to keep the fear from her voice.

Ed was standing on the other side of her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's possible. I've given him some medications to help with the migraine but it hasn't dissipated yet. I can only allow you in one at a time right now. I'll come back out after we run the tests." The doctor turned and walked towards the ER entrance.

Jules followed him before there was any discussion about who would go first. She had to see him and at least know he was ok right now.

The doctor turned and opened the door for Jules. He lead her to the door of the room they had put Sam in. Since light and sound bothered Sam they had put him in one of the only rooms with a door.

Jules took a breath and went into the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Oh god, he looks so pale, she thought. He's still in pain. She sat and took his hand.

Sam moved his head and was glad to see Jules there. He was also glad that it didn't hurt as much to move his head. He felt like he was floating. No bed, just him floating in the room. There was still pain, but it was dulled. It felt kinda, groovy. I got the good stuff, he thought. Oh man, don't say anything. Then you won't say anything you'll have to apologize for later. He knew it'd be ok to at least say, "hi Jules." Man, my voice sounds weird, he thought.

Jules couldn't help but laugh a little. He sounded so out of it. "Hi Sam. How're you doing?"

"Uh," he frowned, "ok I guess." He looked up at the lights overhead and was glad they were off.

Just then the nurse from the other day came in and took Sam for a test. Jules told him she'd be there when he got back. He squeezed her hand and let go. It was forty minutes before he was wheeled back in.

"Wow that took a while." Jules said to the nurse.

"We decided to run a bunch of tests before we brought him back. Once we have the results we'll be back in." The nurse smiled as she put Sam's bed back in place and put on the brakes.

"Ok thanks." Jules said and took Sam's hand again, her palm facing his. He had been looking at her when he was wheeled in and continued to look now.

Sam felt her hand in his and marveled at it. He opened his hand and laced his fingers with hers. It felt better than the way she had it. He looked at her and hoped she couldn't see what he was thinking. Ok, gotta stop, he thought. Something else might alert her to what I'm thinking.

Jules smiled at him. His pupils were very dilated. She'd seen that look many times on the job, especially with the RCMP when she had started her career. He was totally out of it. She felt better just seeing him in person. She knew he was ok. She knew the others would probably yell at her for staying so long, but she wanted to hear the results of his tests.

Twenty minutes later, the doctor walked in. "So, Sam. Good news. You do not have a brain bleed or anything else serious going on."

"Whoo!" Sam said and smiled.

The doctor couldn't help but laugh. He looked at Jules. "Apparently he's feeling better."

"Yeah." Jules laughed. Then she got serious. "So he's really ok?"

"Yes. All of the tests are showing normal, and a neurologist looked at his CT scan, his official diagnosis is post-concussion syndrome. The treatment for that is to treat the symptoms. So, I will write him some scripts. One for the headache, probably something a little milder since he seems to be pretty loopy on morphine."

"Yes I think that would be best. I don't think he would like being this out of control." Jules agreed, especially when Sam started staring dreamily at their hands.

"Ok. I'll also give him one for vertigo. That should help with the dizziness and double vision." The doctor agreed.

"How long will he have to be on these?" Jules asked.

"Well, you'll want to make sure he knows that it may get worse in the next week or two so he may be more dependent on the pain meds than he likes but it should clear up in a few weeks to a month."

"A month?" Jules asked incredulously. "Can he go back to work?"

"Where's a moth?" Sam asked.

The doctor ignored Sam. "Yes. Hopefully it doesn't take that long. It all depends on Sam. If the headache goes away, then he'll be fine. If it doesn't, and he has to stay on the meds it depends on whether he can function while on them. We can always adjust the dose.

One of the issues people have sometimes is that when they stop taking the meds the headache comes back so they become dependent on them. He'll just have to wait and see. I would recommend he take the next week to two weeks off until he knows whether he can get off the meds, he knows for sure how he functions on them and we can make the necessary adjustments."

"So what about today?" Jules asked. She finally pulled her hand from Sam's when he started licking her fingers and saying, "the snozberries taste like snozberries." She had no idea what that meant.

"We will discharge him. I'll give you the prescriptions." He looked at the clock, 2pm. Plenty of time. "Rest and no stress are the best things for him right now, although I see from the news that might be difficult."

"Yes." Jules nodded.

"Ok. Well, I'll get the scripts written and have the nurse come in with the discharge."

"Thank you doctor. I'll have Greg come in since Sam will be staying with him." Jules stood.

"Good. That would be best for at least the next week." The doctor looked at Sam and said, "Sam. Feel better soon and next time don't wait so long before coming in."

Sam sat up in the bed, his back rigid. "Sir yes Sir." He saluted and laid back against the pillows completely relaxed.

Both walked out laughing, although Jules knew that was an automatic reaction of Sam's and it wasn't really that funny. She walked out into the waiting room and as predicted was yelled at for not coming out to let them know what was going on. She yelled back that that is what she was doing right now and everyone calmed down. She related all the information the doctor told her, including that Sam should stay with Greg for the week and that he was pretty out of it. She wanted to make sure they didn't take anything Sam said out of context.

Greg didn't have any problem at all with Sam staying with him and said they would swing by Sam's place to get more clothes. He then proceeded into the room and got all the instructions for Sam's release. He would follow them to the letter this time. After Greg helped Sam dress, they walked out into the waiting area, Sam's arm was over Greg's shoulder and Greg had an arm around Sam's waist. Sam was walking wobbly.

Greg looked at Wordy and he stepped forward to hold onto Sam with an arm around his waist. "I'm glad you're ok." Wordy said quietly as Greg ran out to the parking lot to get his car.

Sam looked at him. "Are we on a date?"

Lew, Ed, Jules and Spike did their best to stifle laughs.

Wordy looked at Sam in amusement. "If we are I'm not dressed for it. Sorry." Wordy looked at his camo pants and holy t-shirt. He'd rushed out of the house when he heard Sam was in the hospital and hadn't changed from his lounge-around-the-house wear.

Sam looked down at his t-shirt and sweats and gasped. "Me either." He looked at Wordy in horror.

"It's ok." Wordy tapped Sam's chest with his open hand.

"Wordy?" Sam looked at him again, this time with tears in his eyes, clarity mixed with the tears.

"Yeah bud." Wordy frowned at his sudden change.

"Am I going to be ok?" A tear slipped down his cheek.

"Of course you are." Wordy said reassuringly. "You'll be back at the SRU in no time." He wiped the tear from Sam's cheek.

"Ok." Sam slipped back into the delirium of the morphine.


	28. Chapter 28

##### Greg's apartment, 1505 hrs #####

Ed followed Greg back to Sam's apartment and helped Greg get Sam and his clothes and pillows back to Greg's apartment. Greg had one arm around Sam and his prescription bag in the other. Ed carried everything else.

After the got off the elevator and got Sam in the apartment on the couch, Ed put Sam's clothes bag and pillows in his room. Ed walked back out to the living room and tipped his chin at Greg and then to the kitchen. "I don't want to overstep here, but do you want me to hang out for awhile? He may be a handful until the morphine wears off."

Greg smiled. "It's up to you. You know I love it when you come over."

Ed nodded, took off his light jacket and put it in the closet next to the door.

Greg had promised the others he would keep them updated with Sam's condition. They had all wanted to go to Greg's, but he reminded them that Sam needed rest and no stress, something they all could use. He'd looked Wordy up and down and said jokingly, "you could tone it down a little." That had made them all laugh. Jules caught a ride home with Lew and they had parted ways.

"You want to play chess?" Ed asked.

"Sure." Greg went to the same closet Ed put his jacket in and took the chess set down from the shelf. He brought it to the table and started setting it up while Ed made sure Sam was ok. He was sitting on the couch enthralled by the cartoon show that was on.

Ed looked in Sam's eyes and saw the same doped up look that Jules had. He seems ok, he thought. Ed straightened and looked at Greg as he walked to the table. "She wasn't kidding. He is totally out of it." Ed pointed with his thumb towards Sam and then put out his fingers so they were out straight and slid his hand to the left.

"At least he isn't in pain. Or has less pain." Greg sat down and put the clock next to the board.

"Greg." Ed looked at him with worry in his blue eyes. "What if he can't come back to the SRU?"

"We just have to hope it goes away. Besides, he won't let that happen." Greg shook his head. He moved one of his pawn and hit the button on the clock.

"He is pretty stubborn." Ed smiled, moved his pawn and hit the button.

Twenty minutes later, Ed smiled big, moved his knight and said, "checkmate."

"Damn." Greg was sitting back in the chair, his arms crossed in front of him and leaned forward when he saw the move Ed was making. He looked over to the couch and didn't see any movement. They hadn't heard a peep from Sam since the game started. He stood and pointed at the board. "Rematch." He moved around the end of the couch and stopped in his tracks. "Where's Sam?"

"What do you mean 'where's Sam?'." Ed stood and looked around the floor. He walked to Greg's side and noticed the tracks in the carpet. He pointed at them and then put a finger to his lips. He followed them to the bathroom where they found Sam asleep in the tub.

"What the hell?" Greg frowned.

"He army crawled in here. I don't know how we didn't notice." Ed explained pointing to the tracks which were from Sam dragging his body across the carpet.

"But why?" Greg asked. Why didn't he just tell them he was tired?

"I don't know. Guess we'll have to ask him." Ed shrugged and walked to Sam. He put a hand on Sam's shoulder and shook gently. "Sam." When Sam opened his eyes, Ed said, "what happened? Why didn't you ask us to help you?"

"Had to pee. Had to find the privy." Sam said in his soldier voice.

"Did you go?" Ed asked.

"Negative. Can't stand. Couldn't sit." He waved his arms.

"Ok. I'll help you ok?" Ed said gently. He helped Sam stand, get out of the toilet, helped him get his pants down and then got him to sit on the toilet. He could see why Sam abandoned the idea of sitting there alone. He couldn't sit still and probably almost fell off, probably into the tub. How had they not heard him? Ed kept his hand on Sam's shoulder while he peed.

He helped Sam up and pulled up his sweats and undies. Man, he thought, this is what it was like in high school with his drunk buddies on the weekend. Hadn't he promised himself he'd never do that again? This was different though. He looked Sam in the eye, "do you want to go back to the couch or do you want to go to bed?"

Sam thought for a minute, then said, "no offense Ed, but you're not my type."

Ed laughed, a smile filling his face. "Well I'm sure Soph will be glad to hear you say that. Are you tired or do you want to watch TV?"

"TV!" Sam pointed to the couch. "Couch ho!"

Ed looked at him again as they reached the couch and he got Sam to lay on it, a pillow under his head, his blonde hair visible from the couch. "Do not move unless you ask one of us. And, did you just call me a ho?" Sam laughed. Ed shook his head as he walked back to his side of the table. "This must be what it's like when he's drunk."

Greg nodded. "Kind of entertaining if you don't think about the fact that he disappeared on us." He looked at Ed and shook his head. "I can't stop messing up when it comes to him."

"Greg." Ed said seriously and waited until Greg looked at him. When he did he said, "it could've happened to any of us. He didn't tell you something was wrong. You didn't know."

"I should've seen it!" Greg pounded his fist on the table.

Sam turned his head and tried to look towards the door. "Come in? No wait, don't come in! Who goes there?"

Ed looked at Sam and tried not to smile but it wasn't working. Greg was being serious and way too hard on himself, but Sam was too entertaining like this. He looked at Greg and they both burst out laughing. Once they calmed down, Ed looked at Greg seriously. "Please don't blame yourself Greg. Look at him." He waited until Greg complied. "He's here, he's ok, so to speak," he laughed again then said, "you've always been way too hard on yourself. Let this one go."

Greg took a deep breath and looked at Sam on the couch trying to conduct the music on the TV. He let out the breath and felt better. He's here, he's going to be ok, he thought. I won't let him be any other way. He looked at Ed and nodded.

Ed nodded back and moved his pawn.

Greg smiled, a gleam in his eye, made his first move and hit the button.

They played three more games, with them tied at two and two before they took a break.

"What do you want for supper?" Greg asked as he walked to the kitchen and grabbed the menus.

"Timmy timmah." Sam said.

Ed looked at him and frowned. Wow, I'm going to have some good stories from this one, he thought.

"Uh, so I'm assuming that's one vote for Timmy's." Greg frowned in Sam's direction. He looked at Ed, his eyebrows raised.

"Timmy's is fine by me." Ed shrugged.

Greg looked past Ed to Sam. "Are you sure Sam? You had Timmy's last night."

"Timmy timMAH." Sam answered.

"Ok." Greg dragged out the first letter with uncertainty.

Ed shrugged and they decided what they wanted. An hour and a half later, they were all stuffed and hanging out on the couch together.

Sam had leaned back against the back of the couch and his eyes were getting heavy. I'm so tired, he thought. At least his headache was down to a dull ache.

Greg noticed and stood so he was in front of Sam. "Hey Sam, why don't you go to bed ok?" When Sam nodded sleepily, Greg leaned over, put his arms under Sam's and lifted him off the couch. They stood for a second and Sam wobbled. Greg knew he probably wouldn't get any steadier so he put an arm around Sam's waist and walked him to the bedroom. He flicked on the light which made Sam wince. When they got to the bed, he turned on the small light and looked back at the door. Ed was there and turned off the overhead light. He lowered Sam into the bed and got him covered.

The moment his head hit the pillow, Sam was in a deep sleep.

Greg turned off the light, walked quietly out of the room and left the door open a sliver. He walked back to the table and started clearing everything away. Ed had followed him and started helping.

"One more game before I go?" Ed said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh yeah." Greg smiled.

They set up the game and started playing.

Sam felt the familiar knife to his head wake him up. Dammit, he thought. I thought it was going away. Ah damn. He tried to sit up but that made it worse. He laid back down. Help. Need meds. "Greg?" He said quietly. He waited, but he knew that wasn't loud enough. Take a breath and do it, he thought. It's going to hurt, but he can fix it. He took a deep breath and said, "Boss!" He put a hand to his head. He heard the scrape of legs on hardwood and someone, no two people running. They're coming, he thought. They're coming.

Greg heard Sam say 'Boss!', immediately stood and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed the pain pills, glass of water and a flashlight, reading the directions again as he opened Sam's door. He turned on the flashlight and walked to the bedside table and turned the light on.

Sam jumped back from the light and hissed in pain. "Ah. Boss help me."

"I got you Sam." Greg whispered. He opened the bottle and took out a good sized pill. He put it in Sam's hand and coaxed him to sit up a little. Sam did but it was obviously very painful for him. Greg held the glass even though Sam put a hand on it too. He waited for Sam to drink what he wanted and eased him back to his pillow. "That should kick in in a few minutes. I'll set my alarm and get ahead of it next time ok?" Greg put a hand on Sam's.

Sam flipped his hand and squeezed. "My fault." He said resolutely. "Sorry. Not your fault ok?"

"It's ok Sam. You rest." Greg squeezed back and let go, but Sam did not.

"No. Promise me. No guilt. My fault." Sam kept his eyes closed, concentrating on every word.

Greg smiled and felt his eyes start to water. "Ok Sam. I promise."

"Good." Sam smiled a little.

"I'll be close by if you need me." Greg said, turned the light off, took the water and pills and left the room. Again, he left the door open a crack.

"Why'd you take the pills? Wouldn't it be better to leave them in there so he can take them when he needs them?" Ed asked confused.

Greg looked at him for a second and said, "honestly, I was going to but I don't know what state of mind he's in. What if he decided it'd be better to take them all? He was in a lot of pain in there Ed. More than I think anyone can bear. I don't, can't give him that option."

Ed considered what he said. While he didn't believe Sam would do that, he understood Greg's thinking. "Ok."

"Now, let's finish this." Greg sat back down at the table. He set his watch alarm for seven hours and forty-five minutes. Luckily the doctor had given Sam long acting pain pills so he didn't have get up every four hours to take the next dose. It would let him get more rest.

Ed saw Greg set his watch and nodded. He knew Greg wouldn't be getting much sleep. He planned on talking to Soph when he got home about staying over tomorrow night to give Greg a break.

The game was finished eight moves later. "Checkmate." Greg smiled.

"Nice." Ed smiled. "Well, I'll let you get some sleep before you have to give Sam his next dose." Ed stood and walked to the closet. He pulled out his jacket and put it on. Greg had picked up the game and put it in the closet.

"Thanks for coming and your help with Sam." Greg slapped Ed's shoulder.

"You're welcome. Talk to you tomorrow?" Ed smiled. When Greg nodded he tapped his shoulder, turned and left.

Greg closed the door and went to his room. Ed was right, he should sleep before Sam's next dose, but first he had to blow up the air mattress. He hoped it didn't make too much noise and wake Sam or keep him awake. After it was full he carried it out and put it next to Sam's door. He put sheets and a blanket on it and then got ready for bed. He looked at his watch as he climbed into bed, 2130 and a little less than seven hours until he had to get up. Not bad, he thought. He settled in and fell asleep fairly quickly.


	29. Chapter 29

##### Greg's apartment, 0345 hrs #####

Greg started awake when his alarm went off. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Meds, get Sam his meds, he thought. He stood up from the mattress and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed both prescriptions, a glass of water and the flashlight. He walked into Sam's room, pushing the door open and turned on the flashlight. He put the pills down on the bedside table and then the flashlight, pointing away from Sam. He opened each one and took a pill from each. He turned the flashlight towards Sam, put a hand on his shoulder and shook it gently. Sam was on his back, but he rolled to his side when Greg shook him.

"Mmph." Sam grumbled. Who was waking him up and why?

"Sam? Time for your meds." Greg whispered.

Sam took a breath in and forced his eyes open, but they closed half way. He went up on his elbow, took the pills in his free hand and the glass in the one he was leaning on. He willed his eyes to open. It wasn't too light in the room so it was easier for him to open them and keep them open after a moment. He popped the pills into his mouth and took a long drink of the water. He handed the water back to Greg and laid back on his side. "Thanks Boss."

"You're welcome." Greg smiled. He took the pills, empty glass and flashlight and left the room. He put them back in the kitchen and returned to his bed. Before he fell asleep he reset his watch for another seven and a half hours. Although he was usually getting up right now for workout, it had been an exhausting couple of days. He allowed himself to go back to sleep.

He woke up again four hours later. He yawned and stretched in the bed. He actually felt pretty rested. He'd slept like ten hours total. That was more than he usually got. After a tough day, he was often still up at 2100 or 2200 hours which is late when you have to get up at 0300 to make 0400 workout. He yawned again and got up off the bed. He pulled it into his room and closed the door. He grabbed his clothes for the day and went into the bathroom to shower and change.

Sam opened his eyes. The one window in the room had a dark blanket thrown over the curtain rod. He let a small smile play on his lips. He was grateful for everything that Greg and the others did to help him. He could still feel the headache, but it was 75% better than it was. He sat up slowly and tested his head. Not bad. I can still feel it twinge sometimes. Suddenly his eyes got wide. Oh god, he thought. I got the good stuff. What did I say? What did I do? He had a hard time remembering after and he wracked his brain.

He remembered holding Jules hand. Intertwined fingers. Oh god, did he- did he lick them? He remembered something about snozberries. Wordy. He'd been horrified that he wasn't dressed right. But dressed right for what? Oh god, their date? He could feel his face getting red, his ears felt hot. He put a hand to his head and ran it through his hair.

Greg walked to the door in time to see the gesture and Sam's red face. He was really glad to see Sam sitting up. He must be feeling better, he thought. He stepped into the room. "Hi Sam. Good to see you sitting up. How you feeling?"

Sam looked at him and his face got redder, if it was possible. He was now the color of a tomato.

"Don't worry, we won't pick on you for too long." Greg smiled, but he could see Sam was worried. "You didn't do anything horribly embarrassing. Honest."

"What did I do?" Sam asked wearily. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Well, you'll have to ask Jules what you said or did in the exam room. She only said that you were out of it, but pretty funny."

She hadn't told them, he thought. That's interesting. Unless he did something horribly embarrassing and she was too embarrassed to tell them. Crap. "What about Wordy? I remember something about not being dressed for our, uh, date?"

"Yeah." Greg laughed. "Apparently while I went to get the car, Wordy was keeping you steady with an arm around your waist, and you asked if you were on a date. Then you were horrified because you realized you weren't dressed right."

"Oh man." Sam pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well Ed and I got you here and you were so funny. I imagine that's probably what you're like drunk and I have to say you are a happy drunk. While Ed and I were engrossed in our chess game, you army crawled to the bathroom and fell asleep in the tub." At Sam's furrowed brows, Greg continued, "apparently you had to go the bathroom and couldn't sit on the toilet by yourself. That was true. Ed had to keep a hand on you to keep you steady.

On the way back from the bathroom, Ed asked if you wanted to watch TV or go to bed and you thought about it." They both laughed. "Then you said, 'sorry Ed, but I'm not your type'." They laughed harder. "Then he said 'well I'm sure Soph will be glad to hear that. Do you want to watch TV or go to sleep?' You said. 'TV! Couch ho!'.

Sam wiped tears from his eyes. He laid back on the bed crossways and was laughing harder than he ever had.

"Ed thought you called him a ho." Greg wiped tears from his eyes too. "Then when we asked you what you wanted for supper you said, 'Timmy Timmah.' We had no clue what that meant."

Sam stopped laughing long enough to say, "it's from a TV show called South Park."

"Oh!" Greg wiped more tears from his face and tried to catch his breath. "Man!" He said finally. He went to the bathroom and blew his nose. He brought back some tissue for Sam.

Sam blew his nose and winced. That hurt his head.

Greg saw it and asked, "what's your pain level Sam?"

Sam looked at him. "4." He answered honestly.

Greg could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "Not too bad then."

"No. It's still there, but better than when I woke up last night." Sam gave him a serious look. "I'm sorry. I should've told you, especially when it started getting really bad."

"Yes you should've. Why did you hide it?" Greg went and sat next to him on the bed.

"I don't know. I thought it would go away I guess. I was tired anyway so I figured maybe it would go away if I slept. But it got to be more than I could handle." Sam shrugged and looked at the floor.

"Don't you- I mean, do you trust me?" Greg asked, hurt that Sam hadn't trusted him to try to fix it.

Sam looked at Greg and felt terrible about the hurt he saw there. "Boss. Of course I trust you. That wasn't it at all." Sam stopped. Damn you General, he thought. "Part of it was because I was angry at my father." He started. "The General is my father, and it pissed me off that he called Halloren and not me. I'm in deep trouble here and he couldn't bother to come help himself? Although part of me wished he wouldn't come."

Greg looked at him a little confused.

"Our relationship is, strained at best. We butt heads a lot, especially about the fact that I'm with the SRU now and not in the Army. If he had his way I'd still be in the Army and would end up a General like him. But I will never be like him, ever." Sam said the last part with all of the conviction he felt.

"I can understand the mixed feelings. He's your dad so you want him to come to your rescue, but it would be very, complicated if he came."

"Right." Sam turned to face him, his right leg bent and up on the bed. "But that's no excuse for not telling you about my headache and other symptoms." He was sure the doc had told him about those too. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Good." Greg nodded. "So from now on I want you to be completely honest with me. It's my job to make sure you don't get any worse, so I'm going to be annoying and ask you how you're feeling and your pain level. We can increase or decrease your dosage based on how you feel so no more mr. tough guy. Honest answers only, capiche?"

Sam nodded, a small one so as not to hurt his head. "Capiche."

"That must be hard during the holidays." Greg stood and Sam followed.

"Ugh. You have no idea!" Sam said as they walked to the living room.

"So, the doctor said no stress and for you to just rest. So please sit." Greg motioned to the couch. "I will make breakfast. Is eggs and bacon ok?"

Sam looked at him. "Ok, new rule. If I have to be honest about how I'm feeling, then you have to let me help around the house. No waiting on me. I'm assuming the doc wants me to stay with you for a while." He stopped.

"Yes. At least a week." Greg explained what the doctor had told them and how they were hoping to make him better to return to work.

Sam was less than pleased when he heard he had to take at least a week, maybe two off from work. Good thing he had some vacation time to use.

Greg could see that missing work was stressing Sam out so he went to his bedroom and grabbed his stress ball off of the bookcase. He tossed it to Sam when he got back to the living room. "You are to use that as a stress reliever."

Sam started squeezing the ball hard and fast. After a minute he slowed down then finally stopped.

"Good. Although I may have to buy a new stress ball after this week." Greg smiled and moved towards the kitchen. "You have a deal, but this is mine. So, eggs and bacon?"

Sam smiled. "And toast?"

"You got it." Greg smiled and stepped into the kitchen.

An hour later, the dishes were done from breakfast and they were hanging out on the couch. Sam looked up at the clock, 0900. He'd never gone this long without being dressed for the day. He stood and walked to his room. He came back out with clothes and bathroom bag. "Hey Sarge, how do I run the shower and where are the towels?"

Greg stood and showed Sam the shower and the closet next to the bathroom with the towels. Sam thanked him, closed the door, stripped and climbed in the shower, letting the hot water run over his head. It actually feel good, like a warm massage. He hoped it would help to alleviate the headache more.

About twenty minutes later, Sam emerged from the bathroom looking more relaxed. He put his things away in his room and made the bed. He felt like the room was too messy with his bags on the floor, clothes hanging out. "Hey Sarge?"

Greg jumped up from the couch and ran into the bedroom.

Sam looked up from the bags on the floor. His frown changed to surprise. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you run. I was just wondering if I could use the dresser. It's a mess in here with my bags all over the floor."

Greg looked around the room. The bed was neatly made, the pillows tucked neatly under the covers. His bags were piled neatly in the corner with his bathroom bag on top. He could see the sleeve of a t-shirt hanging out of one of the bags. It looked fine to him, although he could see how it may not meet Army neatness standards. "Yeah sure. Help yourself." He smiled.

"Thanks." Sam smiled back. "This is, thanks won't be enough for everything you're doing." He pulled Greg into a hug. "It really means a lot."

"I know." Greg hugged him back solidly. He pulled back and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned and left, letting Sam get his things put away.

Sam finally got his clothes in the dresser and closet. He looked around the room. His bathroom bag was on the dresser and his bags were stored, folded neatly and stacked, on the shelf in the closet. Better. That is much better, he thought. His head was starting to pound again so he went back to the living room and sat on the couch. The alarm went off on Greg's watch and Sam flinched.

"Pain level?" Greg asked.

"Moving to a six, maybe seven." Sam answered.

"It wore off a little sooner." Greg said surprised. "Maybe we'll have to up the dose."

"Not yet." Sam looked at him with a pleading look. "I don't want to have to be dependant on it."

"I know. We'll wait and see, but remember the doc said it'll get worse before it gets better." Greg reminded him.

"I know. So you have to promise me, if we have to up it and it makes me like I was yesterday that you won't let anyone visit." When Greg opened his mouth to protest. Sam put up a hand. "I know, it was funny, but I don't have control of myself and I may say or do something to make someone mad and I don't want that."

Greg thought about that for a minute. "Ok Sam. I promise." Anything that would give him less stress was a good idea.

Sam let the breath out he was holding. "Good." He looked at Greg with an amused expression. "Meds please?"

"Oh yeah." Greg smiled. He stood, went to the kitchen, got the pills and brought them to Sam with a glass of water.

Sam took them and drank the whole glass of water. He stood to get another glass of water, but Greg stood and took the glass from him. He went to the kitchen, open and closed a few cabinets and filled Sam's cup.

When Greg brought the full glass back, Sam took a sip and put it on the table, spearing Greg with a hard look. "I thought you promised no babying me?"

"Sorry. I had to put the prescriptions away anyway." Greg shrugged. He was still cautious about letting Sam have free access to the pills. He seemed to be in good spirits now, but if the headaches got worse, he didn't know what that would do to his mood.

Sam looked at Greg. He's keeping the prescriptions from me, he thought. I must've scared him last night. I was in a lot of pain, he reasoned. I guess I can see how he might worry about how that would affect my mental state. If he only knew what my mental state had been the past year. He'd be right to be scared.


	30. Chapter 30

##### Greg's apartment, Sunday 1300 hrs #####

When someone knocked on the door, Greg rose to get it. He opened it to find Spike and Lew standing there. They had snacks, movies and beer in their arms.

Sam stood as they walked in and out everything on the table. He walked forward. "Hey guys." He smiled although it didn't reach his eyes.

Spike stepped forward and hugged Sam gently. "How you feeling?" He said when he pulled back from him.

"Ok. It's still there, but it's manageable." Sam nodded slightly. He saw Greg look at him and mouthed "four." To which Greg nodded.

Lew saw the exchange but knew it was the Boss making sure Sam was ok, so he ignored it. "Good to see you up and about." He hugged Sam and patted his back lightly. "We brought everything we need."

"Good." Although his headache had flared up when Spike had called, he had told them it was ok for them to cash in their raincheck on the moviefest pig out, after checking with Greg of course.

"So, what is this exactly?" Greg asked as he surveyed the mountain of food.

"We veg out in front of the TV, low stress," he wiggled his eyebrows at Sam, "pig out on all these snacks and watch these three movies!" He lifted up the bag with the DVDs in it. They'd only gotten three this time. Usually when he and Lew did this they got five or six. It was a great way to spend the day laughing, eating and hanging with friends, his three favorite things.

"So did you get the one I asked for?" Sam took the bag from Spike and looked in it.

"Yes, but that one is last." Spike snatched the bag from him and put it on top of the DVD player.

"Spike?" Sam put his hands on his hips, his voice a little whiny.

"Sorry, you pick a movie like The Notebook that is LAST." Lew laughed. He grabbed the snacks and spread them out on the table. They had quite a spread. Ridgie chips and onion dip, tortilla chips and salsa left from their last moviefest pig out. Two kinds of crackers, spray cheese, prepackaged strawberry shortcake from Timmy's with spray whipped cream, peanuts, mixed nuts and pork rinds.

"Wordy is a little too corrupting to the team I think." Spike sat next to Greg on the couch and looked at him with seriousness.

Greg laughed. "In Sam's defense, I have heard it's a great movie."

"See!" Spike raised his eyebrows at him.

Sam sat next to Spike and Lew took the recliner next to Sam. Although he was at the TV figuring out which one to pick first. "Either Wordy or Jules." Lew said. "That's something she'd pick."

Sam shrugged. He grabbed some pork rinds and sat back on the couch. "Have you talked to her? How is she?"

"She's ok." Spike looked at Sam and nodded. He let a smile play on his lips. "She tried to jog on her treadmill this morning. That didn't work out so well. She got like half a mile and had to stop."

Sam shook his head. "So stubborn."

"Oh yeah. When I talked to her yesterday she said she was feeling like a 'tub a lub'." He used his fingers and did the air quotes.

"I know the feeling. I've never gone this long without a workout." Sam sighed.

"Don't worry. We'll get you back in shape." Spike smiled and slapped his knee.

If I can even come back, Sam thought sullenly. He shook it off. I don't want to ruin this. Spike was all excited when I told him we could do a moviefest pig out.

"She said to tell you she says hi and hopes you're feeling better. I asked her to come, but she said she didn't want to make your headache worse with a lot of people here. She also said we needed 'bro bonding time'." Spike explained and used the air quotes again. When Sam, Lew and Greg gave him funny looks he shrugged. "Women." He popped some pork rinds in his mouth.

Sam smiled. She is so caring and thoughtful, he thought. He had told Spike that only a few people right now would be good. He knew with all seven of them together it could get loud. His head couldn't take that right now.

Lew finally picked his movie first and put it in. He sat back in his chair and smiled as the previews played and the opening scene of Fast and Furious played.

Sam looked at Lew after a racing scene. Huh, a movie about fast, souped up cars. Imagine that. He knew Lew had built his car from the ground up with his dad so this was no surprise.

By the time the first movie ended, the pork rinds, chips and dip and strawberry shortcakes were gone.

Spike stood and grabbed his pick, wiggling his eyebrows at them. He put it in and sat back to watch their reactions to the name of the movie, Zombieland. They had groaned. It was a really great movie, a perfect pick for Spike. It was hilarious, disgusting and full of action. Of course, you couldn't go wrong with Woody Harrelson.

When Sam stood to get his pick and sat back down because he was dizzy, Spike jumped up and went to the VCR, keeping an eye on Sam.

"Level?" Greg asked, a hand on Sam's arm. He looked like he'd been knocked for a loop for a second.

Sam blew out a breath. Damn, that snuck up on him. As soon as he stood up the world had spun and his head throbbed. "7."

"Ok. Hold on." Greg stood and went to the kitchen, got what he needed, put it away and returned to Sam's side.

Sam took the pills and drank his water. He wanted more water but he didn't dare stand yet.

Lew stood and took the glass, bringing back a full one from the kitchen. He put it in front of Sam.

Sam was going to give him hell for babying him, but he let it slide this time. He put his head back against the couch.

Spike sat back on the couch.

"What do you think about asking ifyou can take another half of a pill? They're supposed to last eight hours and you at six right now. You shouldn't be at a seven pain level." Greg asked, watching Sam's face.

Sam thought about it for a minute. He was very conflicted. He wanted the headache to go away, but it was definitely getting worse. He ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Greg, his eyes serious. "Your promise?"

"You know it." Greg nodded.

Sam took a breath. "Ok."

Greg stood and went to the kitchen. He called the ER and asked to speak to the doctor on call. When the doctor got on the line, he explained the situation and asked if Sam could take another half a pain pill. He waited while the doctor pulled up Sam's chart on the computer and read through it. The doctor asked questions about Sam's current state and effectiveness of the pills. He gave Greg the ok to give Sam a half pill more and told him to have Sam follow up with a neurologist on Monday. Greg agreed, hung up, cut a pill and walked into the livingroom to give it to Sam.

Greg handed the half to Sam and said, "he recommended you see a neurologist on Monday but this should help."

Sam had second thoughts before he popped the pill, but he did it and took a swig of the water. As he was putting the cup on the coffee table, he realized they were all staring at him. He looked from Greg to Lew to Spike. "Now mine." Sam pointed to the blue screen of the TV.

"We don't have to if you don't feel like it." Spike said concerned.

"Yeah we can watch it another time." Lew said, the same concern on his face.

"Uh uh. You're just trying to get out of watching it." Sam half-smiled. He pointed to the TV while keeping his eyes on Spike. "Hit play."

"Seriously Sam. If your head hurts too much-" Spike's eyes showed his concern.

"Thanks Spike, but I'm good." Sam gave him a strained smile. "It's starting to ease up." He sat back against the couch and sighed.

"Ok." Spike grabbed the remote and hit play on the DVD player.

Ten minutes later, all three of them were asleep.

When the TV switched back to a blue screen, Sam saw the blue in his dream, frowned and opened his eyes. What the? Aw, he fell asleep and missed the whole movie. He looked to his left and saw Lew with his head to the side, sleeping. He chuckled. He looked to his right and saw Spike with his head to his chest, and Greg with his head to the side on the couch both sleeping. Even though it would kill his head, he wished he had a foghorn right now. One blast would wake them up and fast.

He tested his head by moving it side to side and up and down. Not too bad. Back to a 3. Way better than before. He stood and realized he felt less dizzy too. He tried testing himself, it's 2009, Ss-Sunday?, I'm at Greg's apartment. He couldn't know for sure if that was right though. He went to the bathroom.

Greg opened his eyes, confused by the blue screen. Moviefest. What was that movie? Whatever it was, it was boring as hell. He sat up slowly and rubbed his face. He rolled his neck. Ouch, he thought, that hurts. He rubbed his fingers on the knot. He looked at Spike and smiled. His neck is going to be sore too. He looked at Lew, he looks so peaceful. Sam? Where is Sam?

Remembering his army crawl to the bathroom last night Greg stood and looked at the carpet by Sam. He didn't see any marks. He looked at the bathroom. The door is closed. Crap. Better check the tub. He walked to the door and knocked. "Sam?"

"Yeah. Be right out." Sam flushed, washed his hands and opened the door. He smiled at Greg's groggy but worried look.

"Level?"

"3. I feel a little groggy, but not like last night." Sam said. He felt like he was teetering on the edge of oblivion and clarity.

"Good." Greg sighed in relief.

"Guess that movie was a.." Sam said as they walked back to the couch and put a finger to his lips. This would literally hurt him more than them, but he had to do it. "BOMB!" He said as loud as he could and winced. Laughing actually hurt more because he was laughing hysterically when Spike jumped from the couch, crawled around the end of the couch and hid. Lew sat up fast in the chair, his eyes as big as saucers as he covered his head and curled in a ball.

Spike realized he was cowering at the end of the couch and looked up over the armrest at Greg and Sam. Apparently that was hilarious because they laughed even harder. "What the hell?" He looked from Sam and Greg to Lew who was peeking out from between his arms in the chair.

"You ass." Lew unfolded himself and sat the right way in the chair.

"Hat." Spike added as he stood and returned to the couch.

Sam was trying to stop laughing, but it wasn't working. He put a hand to his head. Oh, ouch, he thought. He sucked in a breath and held it, but he looked at Spike's irritated look and blew it out as a buzz from his lips. "Oh, ow, I'm sorry. Ow." Sam walked past Spike and sat in his seat. He put his elbow on his knee and his head in his hand as he calmed down.

"That was pretty good Sam. Just remember, revenge is sweet." Spike smiled with a gleam in his eye.

"You'll get yours Henry Higgins." Lew said in a British accent so it sounded like 'enry 'iggins. They all turned to look at him. "Oh come on! My Fair Lady is a classic! Besides, my ex made me watch it when we were together."

"Then you are excused." Spike nodded to him.

"Thank you." Lew bowed his head back and tipped the brim of an imaginary hat.

"Just be glad that's all I did. If I didn't still have a headache and had a foghorn, you all would've been hanging from the ceiling like cats." Sam smiled devilishly.

They all laughed.

"Ooh." Spike raised his eyebrows. "Not bad young grasshopper. I shall teach you the art of.. prank-foo and you shall become my apprentice." He said in his best Bruce Lee voice.

Sam looked at him and started laughing again. He put his hands together in a prayer pose and bowed to Spike. "Yes Master."

They laughed and talked for quite awhile, enjoying each other's company. Spike made spaghetti and garlic bread for them for supper. After Sam and Greg did the dishes they returned to the couch and watched TV together.

Spike looked at the clock, 2030, they should go. He looked at Sam who was asleep next to him. Poor guy, the extra medicine must knock him out. He met eyes with Lew and tipped his chin towards the door. Lew nodded and they both stood. Spike looked at Greg. "Thanks for a great time."

Greg smiled and whispered back, "thanks for coming. I think it's going to be a rough week or so, so anything we can do to keep his spirits up will be good." He looked seriously at Spike, "but no pranks until he's back at the SRU."

Spike looked at the floor and kicked at it with his foot. "Aww."

Greg laughed softly. He hugged each of them and they said their goodbyes. After he closed the door he looked at the timer on his watch. He'd reset it for seven and a half hours hoping the extra half pill would push the time frame out again. He walked back to the couch. He hated to wake Sam to put him in bed if he was going to wake him in two hours to take his pills.

He turned Sam's legs, turning his body, so that he was laying sideways on the couch with his head on a pillow on the arm of the couch. He took the blanket off the back of the couch, and put it over Sam's sleeping form. He sat in the recliner and gently put the feet out so it wouldn't make any noise. He grabbed his book from the table next to the chair and started reading.

Two hours later, his alarm started beeping. He shut it off and kneeled next to Sam. He put a hand on his shoulder and shook gently. "Sam. Time for bed."

Sam opened his eyes. Wasn't he already in bed? He sat up and immediately put his head in his hands. This is getting really annoying, he thought. His head was pounding again.

Greg sat back and watched him, letting him get his bearings. "Level?"

Sam scoffed. He was getting tired of that question. "Pounding. Fucking. Headache." He said irritably.

"I know." Greg said gently. "How bad?"

Sam took a breath. He's just trying to help, he reminded himself. It's not his fault. "Sorry. 7." He said regretfully.

"I understand. This is really hard, but you'll get through it. I'll get the pills. Be right back." Greg stood, got what he needed, put it away and brought them to Sam.

He drank the whole glass. Man, this makes me thirsty, he thought. Which makes me have to pee. "I need to stop at the bathroom before bed."

"Ok." Greg nodded. He helped Sam stand and steadied him while he walked. They made the stop at the bathroom and then he got Sam to bed. As he left he reset his alarm for seven hours. The first one was too long, he thought. They should be keeping him steadily under five is what the ER doctor had said. He had also said that it got to an eight to being him in. Seven was too close.

He went to his room and decided he would sleep in his bed tonight. He'd be up before his alarm went off anyway. He'd had a nice hour and a half nap this afternoon. He smiled as he thought about the hilarity that had ensued today. He felt pangs of fatherly love for his boys. That's what they were after all. They looked after each other like a family, and this family was doing well to make the newest member feel at home. And, the new member was feeling the acceptance and love he didn't think he'd get. The family he needed.


	31. Chapter 31

##### Jules' apartment, Monday 0500 hrs #####

Jules was surprised when the doorbell rang. It was 0500. Who the hell would be ringing her bell at 0500? When she saw Spike's goofy face in the small window on the side of the door, she knew exactly who else would be up. She opened the door and smiled.

"Hi! We've come to invade your home!" Spike said, carrying yoga mats in his arms.

"We knew you'd be up and wanting to run on your treadmill, so we thought we'd bring the workout to you." Ed smiled as he followed Lew and Spike in.

"We also know that the doc said for you to take it easy and start slow." Wordy followed Ed. When a small blonde woman followed Wordy, he turned and introduced her. "This is Jamie. She is a yoga instructor and will be conducting our workout."

"Hi Jules," Jamie smiled and said bubbly. "I hope this is ok. They said it would be."

Jules was stunned, but recovered enough to shake her hand. "Thanks for coming." Yoga? That's not a real workout is it?

Jamie looked at her and as if she read Jules' mind, she said, "it's a workout like you've never done. Trust me." She winked.

Jules instructed the guys in moving the furniture out of the living room and into the dining room so they would have room. They spread out their mats and started stretching.

By the end, they were all sweating their butts off. "Hands together in platitude, namisde." Jamie said and smiled at them. They had all gotten a kick out of it when Jamie had gone around and corrected their positions. There were lots of grunts and groans.

"Wow!" Jules smiled and looked at Jamie. She went up to her and said, "that was great! You were right, it was a workout like I've never done before. It's a totally different kind of tired."

"Thank you. I'm so glad you liked it. I would be glad to come to the station and conduct classes. You have to keep yourselves limber and centered." She handed Jules a card and looked past her at the guys who had not gotten up from the floor.

Jules followed her gaze and laughed. "You guys doing ok?" This was a two hour workout, she thought.

Spike put up a hand and made a thumbs up while the rest were on their backs looking up at the ceiling, totally exhausted and groaning.

Jamie smiled at them and moved it to Jules. "My work here is done." She started gathering her stuff as the boys slowly sat up and started rolling their mats.

Spike grabbed the mats as he stood and walked to Jamie. "I'll bring these to your car for you." Spike said tiredly.

"Thanks Spike!" Jamie smiled. "Great job everyone! Hope to see you soon!" She followed Spike out the door.

After the door closed, Ed said to Jules from his seat on the floor, "if you ever call her I will make you run the course in full gear ten times and the shooting range fifty."

Jules laughed, but she knew he was serious. She wAited until Spike came back in and looked at each of them in appreciation. "Thanks you guys. This was sweet of you."

"Tomorrow we meet up in the SRU gym." Ed looked at her. "A slow jog only."

"Copy." She smiled.

They talked about Lew and Spike's visit with Sam and Greg and laughed at Sam's movie pick and then his prank after they all fell asleep. Jules had cut in and said she'd loved that movie. Lew and Spike exchanged a look.

"His headaches are getting worse." Spike said solemnly.

"Yeah. He increased his dose last night though, so hopefully it gets better." Lew added.

"The doc did say it would get worse before it gets better." Jules nodded. "We just have to help Sam ride it out."

"Greg too." Ed looked at Jules, they were all standing in a circle now. Jules, Ed, Spike, Lew and Wordy. "I'm going to stop over this afternoon and see how they are."

"Me too." Jules jumped in. She wanted to see for herself and do her best to add to his support.

"Ok, well I'll wait for you if you want to go shower and change." Ed looked at her. "As long as you don't mind riding with a smelly guy."

Jules smiled and answered, "no."

"It can be hard taking care of someone by yourself for a whole week. Sam is able to be up and about, but he's going to get irritable not working or being able to do any of his normal stuff. We need to do what we can to help both of them out." Ed looked at each of them.

"Copy that." They all said.

They moved Jules' furniture back into the living room and said their goodbyes while Ed waited for Jules to come back downstairs. He was glad she was obviously feeling better. She had moved her stuff back to her room yesterday and didn't have to take as many breaks when she talked.

She came back down with her hair still wet, but said that it would dry. Plus she knew Soph would let her borrow her hair dryer. They went to Ed's house and while Ed was showering, Jules dried her hair and brushed it. It looked good, she thought. Wait, who was she making sure her hair looked good for? She shook it off and told Sophie how much the boys had loved yoga. They were laughing when Ed reappeared, showered and changed.

"What's so funny?" Ed looked at Sophie, a gleam in his eye.

"You weren't feeling the sun salutation and downward dog?" Sophie stifled a laugh.

"It was horrible!" Ed said. "I didn't think I could get into some of those positions!"

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "I'll help you later." She whispered.

"Ooh. That a promise?" Ed leaned in and kissed her.

"Mm hmm." Sophie said sultrily.

"Oh lord." Jules rolled her eyes.

Ed smiled and pulled away from Sophie. "I love you. I'll be back later."

"Ok." She smiled at him then at Jules. "Bye Jules."

"Bye Sophie. Thanks for letting me use the hair dryer." Jules waved to her as they walked out.

"You're welcome!" Sophie called after them.

When they got to Greg's door, they heard something fall over and shouting from inside. They looked at each other and Ed put up a hand to knock on the door.

##### Greg's apartment Monday, 0630 hrs #####

"Sam?" Greg walked into Sam's room holding the pills and glass of water.

Sam opened his eyes. Damn, he thought. Was it time already? He sat up and felt the familiar knife to his head, but this time it was on both sides.

Greg watched him and sighed internally. This isn't good. "Level?"

"Eight." Sam put a palm to his head and leaned forward.

"Ok. Can you stand?" Greg put the pills and water down on the side table and sat between the table and Sam. He took Sam's arm and helped him stand. He could see that Sam was going down, his eyes were rolling back in his head, so he sat him back on the bed. "I'm calling the ambulance." Greg stood.

Sam grabbed for his arm and was surprised he caught the right one. "No." He growled. He didn't mean to, but he did. "No ambulance. No hospitals." He looked up at Greg as best he could and hoped he could see his fear. If I go in, I may not come back out, he thought.

"Sam. There could be something really wrong." Greg sat back down on the bed. He could see looking up was hurting him. He'd seen the fear in Sam's eyes.

"Please. I just want to take the pills and sleep some more. Maybe it'll calm down. Please Greg." Sam looked at him, pain and fear filling his eyes.

Against his better judgement, Greg said, "ok but if you're not better in a couple hours, we're going to the hospital. Understand?" He said firmly. When Sam had used his name instead of Boss or Sarge, it had cut into his heart.

"Ok." Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He took the pills and let Greg lay him back down gently.

Greg walked out of the room, sat at the table and watched the clock. He almost went in at 0830, but he gave Sam some more time. At 0915, he went into Sam's room and knelt by the bed. "Sam."

Sam opened red eyes and looked at Greg. He hadn't slept much since Greg left the room. He felt like his head was going to explode. He'd done the only things he could, cry and wish the pills were in the room.

"Let's go." Greg looked in his eyes and knew he wasn't any better. He slowly helped Sam sit up and then stand.

"Bathroom." Sam said as they crossed the threshold to his room.

Greg took the detour, then sat Sam in the chair at the table while he gathered his keys and wallet.

"Where are you going?" Sam said with some effort.

"We are going to the hospital." Greg looked at him in disbelief.

"No." Sam said simply.

"Sam, you need more meds than what we have. And, you need to get checked out. There could be something serious going on." Greg's voice raised with his frustration.

Sam stood and knocked over the chair. He hung onto the table for dear life. "See? I'm fine." He raised his voice too.

"Sam! You are not fine! So stop being stupid and let's go." Greg pointed towards the door.

"Oh so now I'm stupid?" Sam yelled, even though it hurt his head.

Suddenly there was a desperate knock on the door. Greg shot Sam an angry looked and went to the door. It was probably one of the neighbors wondering what the shouting was about. He opened it and was surprised when Ed and Jules rushed in.

"What's going on?" Ed said angrily looking at each of them.

Jules went to Sam, righted the chair and made him sit. He looked like he was ready to fall over.

"Sam needs to go to the hospital. His headache is out of control. His pain level is an eight." Greg explained.

Sam looked at Jules, although he couldn't see her very well, he said, "please don't make me go."

She looked at him and squatted down next to him. She could see his eyes were bothering him. "Why don't you want to go Sam? If it'll make you better-" Sam tightened his jaw and looked at the table, which made her frown. She looked at Greg and Ed.

Greg frowned and moved towards him. Ed followed. They stopped and were standing on the opposite side of the table.

"Sam?" Greg asked.

"I don't want to die there. Alone." Sam said finally, the tears falling down his cheeks.

Jules had turned back to him when he spoke, but she looked at Greg and Ed with fear when she heard Sam say that. "Do you feel like you're dying?" She knew that when people felt like they were dying, it was true.

Sam nodded. "Or I want to." He said it before he could stop himself. It was out, he thought. Can't take it back now. He couldn't look at any of them.

Jules felt her heart skip a beat. He wanted to die? She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "Oh Sam."

Greg's eyes widened. Slow it down. The negotiator in him took over. "Why?"

"I'm sorry." Sam wiped his eye.

"Talk to me. What're you thinking?" Greg sat in the other chair.

"I can't. No more." Sam pulled his hand from Jules'.

He doesn't want to talk, he thought. He was pulling away, giving in. Greg felt his eyes water. "Don't. Don't do that Sam. Don't give up. Look at me." When he didn't, Greg pounded his hand on the table, making Sam wince and look at him.

"Sam. You have so much left to do here." Ed's voice choked when he said it and he took a breath. "You need to meet the right girl, settle down, get married, have kids." He took another ragged breath. "We're just starting to get to know you." He had leaned over and caught Sam's eye but he straightened. "We're- we are the family you choose. Choose us. Choose life. We'll get you through this, we have your back. Day or night. If you need to lean, lean on us. We need you buddy. Your sister needs you."

"It's too much pain. I can't take it." Sam put a hand to his head.

"Listen," Greg said and looked Sam in the eye, "we'll take you to the hospital. One of us will be with you at all times. We won't let you be alone and afraid. It's what families do. They will get the headache under control. I'll make sure you stay safe, ok?" Please, he thought. Please don't let go. When they get to the hospital he'll make sure they have the psychiatrist talk to Sam. This will take some work to fix.

"Ok." Sam gave in. He hoped they were right.

Greg wiped his eyes and smiled at Sam. "Ok."

Ed wiped his eyes and helped Jules get Sam up.

Jules sniffed and Sam looked at her. He could see she had been crying. He'd made her cry. I'm am an asshat, he thought. "Sorry Jules." He said in the elevator.

She looked at him, the tears still present. "Don't you apologize." She wiped her eyes. "You just work on getting better."

They got him downstairs and into Greg's car. Ed and Jules followed Greg to the hospital. They helped Sam into the ER. The nurse at the desk recognized Sam and the group, got a wheelchair and got Sam into the ER. Greg followed Sam in and stayed with him the whole time. The doctor that Greg had spoken to earlier in the day was still on which made things easier. They got Sam admitted and settled into a room.


	32. Chapter 32

##### DA Quinton Fortnie's office, Monday 1100 hrs #####

Quint closed the file marked Tolison. They had the script from the stake out at Teresa's home. That was open and shut. He had broken in with a gun to kill his former girlfriend. He pushed that one aside and opened the one that said Johnson. This guy, well he was something else. Former JTF2, dishonorably discharged for killing women and children in a botched raid on a terrorist stronghold. There weren't any other details, hell pretty much the whole report was redacted.

The statement they got from this guy was that Tolie had hired him and Braddock to help him steal his daughter from his girlfriend. They needed a sniper. Johnson was trained, but he was built for hand to hand. They went to Ella Alvarez's house, Braddock had taken three shots. He said they had an argument and that's how Braddock had gotten the cut on the back of his head, from rolling around on the ground.

He said that Sam had hit his head on a root and been knocked out. Johnson had left him there, gotten the baby and drove to the meeting place. Too bad none of that fit the evidence at the scene. Wouldn't there have been a root with blood on it of Braddock had hit his hard enough on it to cause it to bleed? He said he left Braddock by the root, so how did Braddock end up still at the gun? When he'd asked Johnson that he'd shrugged and said he must've crawled to it.

There weren't any marks on the ground or in the area to support someone crawling to the gun. He opened the file marked Braddock and read over his statement. This guy was pretty much the golden boy. He had high praise from his superiors in the Army. Only one or two small incidents, with a unit member named Benjamin Matthew Nealon who went by his middle name. Mostly boys being boys stuff. Except, where Braddock had killed him in a friendly fire incident.

He didn't have any luck getting more info on the incident from the Army. He even got a call from a General telling him to back off on that issue. He had, but he found it interesting that no one wanted to talk about it. Braddock left the Army after the incident with Nealon and had joined the SRU. He was on the best team in the city, Team One. Nothing in his file from the SRU except commendations for various calls. No reprimands, no discipline issues.

It had been impressive that he'd convinced the other officers to have forensics photograph him at the scene. It painted a different picture that Mr. Johnson had. He picked up the report from forensics. He nodded and put it in Braddock's file, picked up everything from his desk for this case and put it all in the box. He put the box on the chair in the corner of the room, grabbed his keys and headed out.

##### Toronto General, Sam's room, 1100 hrs #####

Greg sat in the chair next to Sam's bed sipping terrible cafeteria coffee. He'd been awake since much earlier, but he sat quietly watching Sam sleep. He hated to see the restraints on Sam's wrist and ankles, but it had been necessary.

Once they got Sam into his room, they gave him enough meds to try to erase the headache, but not knock him out. That had come when Sam had, hours later and in his doped up state, jumped out of bed and frog hopped down the hall. Greg and the nurses had tried to chase him down, but he was fast and naked.

Sam had run the whole floor three times before an orderly had tackled him. They thought it would be best to restrain him for the night. They did just the soft restraints at first, but when Sam had started singing 'I'm Henry the Eighth I Am' at the top of his lungs, the nurses had quickly gotten permission to sedate him.

That was around 2000 hrs. Sam had been asleep since then, which was 14 hours ago. He had woken up early in the morning asking to use the bathroom, but the nurses had taken care of it with a jug. It worried Greg that Sam was still sleeping.

He didn't dare wake him because he knew he needed the rest, but he knew Sam wouldn't want to be completely out of it. The doctor had told Greg that they would keep Sam until they could figure out the right dosage for him that would take care of the headaches and keep him functional. So far, this is not it.

Greg looked up from his cup when he saw Sam stir.

Sam opened his eyes. This is not Greg's ceiling, he thought. Oh, I'm in the hospital. He tried to lift his arm but it was shackled. He frowned. Am I under arrest? Oh god. He tried to lift the other arm and it was shackled too. He felt something on his ankles. He turned his head. "Boss?" Man his voice sounded gravelly. What did they give him?

"Yeah Sam. Level?" Greg put his cup down.

"5 or 6." He didn't remember much after getting to the ER. They must've given him the good stuff. He grabbed the remote and sat himself up. He winced when the sun got in his eyes.

Greg stood, closed the shade and sat back down."Still too high." He said. He grabbed the button for the nurse.

When she came in, she asked Sam his pain level. She left and returned five minutes later with a medication. As she pushed the drug she said, "this is milder than the one we gave you last night. Lord knows we don't want a repeat of that." She laughed, told Sam to buzz her if that doesn't bring it down to a two and left.

Sam turned frightened eyes on Greg. "What did she mean?"

"Well, you went for a little, hop around the floor last night." Greg explained and saw Sam cringe. "Naked."

Sam put his head back on the pillow. Just like with Matt, he thought. It's not tequila that makes his clothes fall off, it's strong pain meds! "So you couldn't get me to stay in bed?" He lifted one of his hands and an ankle under the blanket.

"Uh, that was, yeah." Greg suppressed a smile. "Then we had to sedate you because you started singing 'I'm Henry the Eighth I Am' at the top of your lungs. You were out for quite awhile."

"I was deep deep asleep." Sam nodded slightly. He could feel the medicine start to take effect. It was like a blissful blanket falling over him. He smiled.

Greg could see the drug was taking effect. Sam's lids slid to half way and he had a goofy look on his face. I better keep the restraints on, he thought. "Sam?"

"Hmm?" Sam looked at him, but wasn't sure where he was looking. The room was waving.

"What's your level now?" Greg looked at him. He couldn't function like this, definitely not as a sniper. He'd have to tell the doctor when he came in. After they gave a pain dose he stopped in to see how it worked. They had assigned Sam to a pain specialist with a focus on neurological issues like migraines. It was a perfect match.

"Dos!" Sam said and put up his fingers, but he put up his thumb, middle finger and pinky.

"Two? Well we're in the right ballpark, wrong section." Greg stated.

Sam looked at him and frowned. "Was that German?"

"Nien, mein Freund."[No my friend in German] Greg answered softly.

"Whoa." Sam's eyes got big. "That was! Spreken, shhpreken zee, sprechen sie Deutsch!" [Only the last part was German and it says: Do you speak German. A question, but in Sam's doped mind he is trying to remember how to say it]

"Gut!" [Good!] Greg smiled. He didn't know Sam spoke German, but it didn't surprise him with his Army background. He had learned it from his great grandfather who had immigrated from Germany to Canada when Germany invaded Poland in at the start of World War 2. He and his young family had never looked back. His grandfather was only a baby when they made the long trip across the sea.

Doctor Kinsey walked in and pushed his round, black framed glasses up his nose. "Well, how was that dose Samuel?"

Sam smiled at him, a big goofy smile.

"He said his pain is down to a two, but he can't work like this." Greg stood and talked to the doctor near the door. It was obvious that Sam couldn't make any decisions in this condition. "He needs to be lucid."

"That's understandable." Doctor Kinsey nodded. "The next dose we'll try a lower intensity hydrocodone called lorcet." He looked at Greg and could see the stress this was causing. "Don't worry Sargeant, we'll get him straightened out, it's just going to take some patience. I'll check back in after his next dose in four hours." He looked at his watch, nodded to Greg and left.

Greg was about to return to his seat when the door opened again. Greg turned, thinking the doctor forgot something and was surprised to see DA Fortnie. "Hi." Greg said with foreboding. Was he here to arrest Sam?

"Hello Sergeant. Sorry to hear Constable Braddock is back in the hospital."

"Thanks. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon."

Quinton stepped to Sam's bed and looked down at him. "And back on the job soon I hope."

Sam looked at the DA. "I'm freeeee!" He sing songed.

"Uh, yeah." Quinton looked at Greg.

"He's pretty heavily sedated right now. So you aren't filing any charges?" Greg asked, his heart racing.

"Right." Quinton nodded and jumped away from the bed when Sam tried to kick him. "Is he four point restrained?" He pointed at Sam.

"Yes. He's very out of it on strong painkillers. So what happened with the investigation?" Greg prodded, since the DA was obviously distracted by Sam.

"There was overwhelming evidence at the scene that pointed to Braddock's innocence. The most poignant was the photos that Sam had forensics take of him before he was taken into custody. It was obvious that only one person walked to the position on the hill, so obviously someone was carried and I doubt Sam carried that Johnson guy."

"Do I look like He-Man?" Sam said with wonder in his voice.

Ignoring him, Quinton continued, "there were small drag marks from next to the gun sideways to his position at the gun that Johnson obviously tried to erase. This was backed by Braddock's clothes that showed the same sideways movement in the dirt and grass on his shirt and jeans. But the piece de resistance was the picture of Braddock with his arm up to the gun and sighting the house." Quinton demonstrated with his right arm and closed his left eye.

Greg saw this and looked at Quinton in surprise. "He put Sam on the right side of the gun."

"Yes. As verified by Wendy from forensic's discussion with Sam and verified by his teammates, Sam is left handed.

"Southpaw baby!" Sam said gleefully.

"Yes. So he shoots from the left side of the gun and he would've been using his left hand to shoot. Johnson obviously didn't know this and Sam had the presence of mind to realize it. Plus, Johnson's story was unsubstantiated by forensics and this would be pretty elaborate to play at to keep up the concussion if it was a ruse." Quinton pointed to Sam babbling in the bed.

"I assure you, Sam is in a lot of pain."

"I believe you." Quinton nodded. "Please tell Constable Braddock he has been cleared of all charges and free to return to duty as far as we are concerned. And tell him I'm keeping him in my thoughts, and wish him a speedy recovery." He looked at Greg.

"I will. Thank you so much." Greg couldn't help smiling big as Quinton left. He went to the bed excitedly, "Sam, you're not being charged!"

Sam looked at him with a huge grin. "I'm not? Let's blow this popsicle stand!" He struggled against the restraints and looked at Greg confused.

"Easy Sam. Stop pulling. Just relax, ok." Greg put a hand on Sam's shoulder and made his voice as soothing as possible. Finally, Sam stopped squirming. "I'll be right back ok? I'll just be in the hall."

"No. Don't go." Sam whined.

"I'll leave the door open so you can see me ok? I'm going to call the team and let them know." Greg waited for him to agree. Once he did he stood in the doorway and called each of the team. Every one of them had been excited to hear the news. Jules was walking down the hall to Sam's room when Greg called her.

She smiled at the number and looked up. Greg looked at her and had a huge grin on her face. Oh thank god, she thought, they got Sam's meds figured out. "What's up? Did they figure out his meds?"

"No, not yet." Greg's voice fell, but he picked it up again and said, "the DA was here, they aren't charging Sam. The photos he had forensics take of him at the scene were the clinchers."

Jules face dropped in surprise and happiness. She realized she was in a hospital before she yelled like she wanted to but she hugged Greg hard. "Oh my god! Really?" She whispered.

"Yes!" Greg whispered back. "Why are we whispering?" He smiled.

"So I don't jump up and down and yell like I want to." Jules covered her mouth with her hands. She looked into the room and could see the restraints. "What's up with that?" She wanted to run in and undo them.

"He ran around this whole floor naked last night. After we put him in the restraints he started singing 'I'm Henry the Eighth I Am' at the top of his lungs." Greg explained. "They gave him another pain med, but he's still out of it. I would not suggest you let him out of the restraints yet. Doctor Kinsey will be back after they give him his next dose in," he put out his arm out and looked at his watch, "three hours. He's really good so make sure to tell him how Sam is if he can't say for himself."

"Ok." Jules nodded.

Sam looked out in the hall. Was that Jules? "JULES!" He yelled.

"Sam!" Jules looked at him and frowned, putting a finger to her lips.

After a few more directions from Greg, Jules followed him into Sam's room.

Greg sat in the chair and took Sam's hand. "I'm going to go home Sam." At Sam's frightened look he shook his head. "Don't worry. Jules is here. She's going to stay until later tonight. We won't leave you alone. We're each going to stay with you until you can come home, ok."

Sam looked at Jules and back to Greg. "What if I mess up?"

"Don't worry. We all have broad shoulders. We can take it." Jules smiled at him. Greg had explained about Sam's fear of saying or doing something to make them mad while he was doped up.

"I'll be back soon." Greg promised. When Sam nodded he stood and left.

Jules took his seat and put her hand in Sam's palm up. He immediately laced their fingers. "No licking." She warned him and smiled.


	33. Chapter 33

##### Greg's apartment, Thursday 0400 hrs #####

Sam lay awake, looking at the ceiling. Back to normal, the thought when he'd looked at the clock and smiled. Except that he was at Greg's and not in his own apartment. That was coming soon though.

He thought back to the last couple days and snorted with laughter. Man he had been out of it. He didn't remember much until about Tuesday afternoon. The doctor had tried six different medications and three combinations before they had finally gotten the right mix. He had woken up to find the restraints and had been very angry. He had started thrashing and yelling, "NOOOOOO. LET ME GOOO!" Poor Spike, he'd been there at the time and had done everything he could to calm Sam down and explain. It took a lot of talking before Sam finally calmed down.

They hadn't understood Sam's fear of being restrained. It brought back bad memories from one of JTF2 units that had started hazing him one night. They had tied him to the bed, stuffed a sock in his mouth and did a form of waterboarding to him. Matt had been out on assignment at the time so when he came back four days later and found out it had happened every night he was gone he'd been extremely angry.

Sam actually hadn't planned on telling Matt, but Matt saw the raw bruises on Sam's wrists and had demanded to know what happened. When Sam told him, Matt stomped to the mess hall rolling up his sleeves as he went. He took on all four guys at once. The MPs had to break up the fight. The General was furious, but when Matt told him what happened to Sam, he was grateful. The three men were thrown in the brig and eventually dishonorably discharged for conduct unbecoming. They were lucky they hadn't killed Sam.

After Sam told Spike and the doctor about this they felt really bad. They'd had no idea the restraints would bring that back for Sam. They had just wanted to keep him safe. Sam had understood and apologized for lashing out at them and the restraints had been removed.

Once they finally had his meds balanced, he felt so much better. The headache was barely a niggle in his head and he could actually function. Sam had wanted to go home Tuesday, but the doctor insisted he stay one more day so they could be sure. They also did a small test where they let his meds wear off to see if the headache came back. The doctor checked on him every hour after he knew the meds would wear off to see how Sam was doing.

It hadn't taken long to know the result, the headache came back full force. They immediately gave Sam his meds and got him comfortable again. The doctor said it was still early, but it may be a sign that Sam cannot be off these meds.

Sam had become very upset and asked if that meant he couldn't return to the SRU. The doctor hadn't been sure. He said he would have to do tests on Sam's reflexes, memory and retest removing the meds next week and see where he was at. He said they could also try to taper him off and see how that went.

Spike had smiled reassuringly at him and said, "don't worry buddy, we'll get you back one way or another. It'll be fine." Although, in his own mind he wasn't so sure. Would the medications affect Sam's tactical and critical thinking? What if they were out on a long call and he didn't have his meds? He'd have to do something to fix that.

Sam had made it through the night without any problems. Greg had stayed with him and they had played four games of chess before Sam got sleepy and they called it a night. It had been so nice to have someone with him while he was stuck in the hospital. It made it more comfortable for him. He felt bad that they were not as comfortable, especially those that stayed the night.

He and Greg had discussed what would happen after he was released, although it had turned into a yelling match. Sam had raged that he would be fine at home, he didn't need a babysitter now that they had his headaches under control. Greg yelled that it would only be temporary and it was safer in case something went wrong if the headache came back.

Sam had finally agreed, but told Greg that the same rules from before applied. He was not to be treated like an invalid or guest and was allowed to help around the house. Greg had accepted, which was good because the nurses were close to kicking Greg out.

The memory made him smile. Greg hadn't backed down, even when Sam had yelled and accused him of trying to be his father. Afterwards, he had apologized and told Greg he hadn't meant it. He was frustrated by the whole thing.

Once the DA had said they weren't filing charges, he had let out a loud whoop when he heard and got a dirty look from a nurse, the SIU had quickly completed their investigation. They agreed with the DA that Sam had not been involved in the murders and was coerced into cooperating with Tolie.

They also found no fault with Tony's decision to break protocol and leave Sam in the position they found him in and wait for forensics. He had admitted in his interview that he had given the subject the benefit of the doubt and would do so again in a heartbeat. Sam was an honorable man and deserved a chance to prove his innocence. SIU had taken that into consideration in their decision.

The door opened a crack and Sam smiled at Greg. The door opened wider and he sat up and swung his legs over the side.

"Up pretty early." Greg smiled.

"I've slept in enough in the past week." Sam looked at Greg with a questioning look. "So, we're both up, it looks pretty nice out.." He trailed off.

Greg nodded. He knew what Sam was asking. He looked at the window. The blanket had been removed and the shades were pulled up to allow the early morning sun to filter in. Big change from earlier in the week, he thought. "Two conditions." Greg put up his fingers.

"Ok." Sam nodded.

"One: We start out slow and if your headache starts up we stop."

"Ok."

"And two.." Greg smiled and looked at the door, which flew open to reveal Spike and Lew.

"You don't mind some company." Spike smiled.

Lew put a hand on Spike's shoulder. "We knew you'd want to go for a run so we figured, why not do it together?"

Sam smiled at them. "Agreed." He looked at them expectantly. "You don't expect me to go jogging in my boxers do you?"

"Oh." Spike's face lit with understanding. "No we don't need a stampede of women to try to outrun." He grinned mischievously.

"Dear god, let's let the guy get dressed." Lew rolled his eyes and said dramatically.

Before he left, Greg said, "level?"

"About a four, but I haven't taken my meds yet." Sam said.

Greg put them on the nightstand. "If you ever need me to hold onto them for you, you let me know." He gave Sam a serious look. He was trusting Sam to know when he had reached F.I.N.E. and ask for help.

"I will. Thanks." Sam popped the top on the bottles, took one from each and washed them down with water. He was glad Greg trusted him and that his mind was in a better place.

"Good." Greg left the room. He hoped he never had to see Sam in the condition he was Monday. That was frightening. Hopefully the team could catch him before it got that bad if there was a next time.

Five minutes later, Sam emerged from his room ready to go. They jogged down the three flights of stairs to the street to warm up, chit chatting the whole way. Once they hit the street, they let Sam pick the direction and speed.

He started off slow as Greg had asked and picked it up a little after a mile. When they hit three miles, Sam made a turn that would start them back towards Greg's apartment. The pounding of his feet on the pavement and jostling running caused had started to bother his head. By the time they reached Greg's apartment building, they had slowed to a speed walk.

When they finally stopped, Sam bent over to stretch his legs and nearly fell over.

Spike saw Sam start to tip forward and grabbed him around the waist.

"Whoa." Sam was seeing spots and had thought he was going to take a header before Spike caught him and pulled him upright.

"Dizzy?" Lew frowned.

"Wow. That was close. Thanks Spike." Sam looked at Spike and smiled. "Yeah I was seeing spots for a second."

None of them mentioned that he had slowed his pace on the last mile and was wincing a little at the sun. They had noticed, but they didn't want to make him feel bad. It would take a little while for him to get back into the groove of things and find his limits.

"That was a good first time out." Greg put a hand on Sam's back.

Sam shrugged. "Not bad, six miles in," he stuck out his arm and looked at his watch "60 minutes." He frowned at his watch. Was that right, he thought. That's way slower than his usual five minute miles.

"Don't worry about it." Lew gave him an encouraging look. "That was plenty fast for me." He put a hand on his gut. "Spike made us try the new Mexican/Italian fusion place that just opened up on Cherry street. I'm still full."

"Oh it was so good." Spike rolled his eyes and rubbed his stomach.

"Mexitalian?" Sam joked.

"Italican." Spike smiled.

"I don't know though." Sam grimaced at the thought. "So was it like garlic bread tacos?"

"Ooh." Spike's face lit up. "That sounds interesting, but no." He laughed. "But I had an enchilada with a side of spaghetti instead of beans."

"Huh." Sam shook his head slightly. The run had felt good, but the little spark at the back of his head was starting to grow into a fire. "I'm going to head upstairs. Thanks for coming guys. Same time tomorrow?"

"You bet." Spike smiled.

"See ya." Lew said as Sam went inside and headed for the elevator.

"See you guys later for the game?" Greg asked as he turned towards the door.

"Oh yeah. Ed just got a new 50" flat screen. It's going to be awesome!" Spike said excitedly.

"One right?" Greg asked.

"Yes. He said to bring whatever snacks we want, he will supply the beer and pizza." Lew nodded.

"Perfect." Greg smiled and walked inside, waving at Spike and Lew before he disappeared.

"Think Sam's ok?" Spike looked at Lew with concern.

Lew smiled warmly. "Yeah. It think he pushed it a little, but he dropped to a walk when it really started bothering him."

"Yeah." Spike looked at the door. He wished he could just make it all better for Sam. He hated seeing him in almost constant pain. He had to remember to ask Jules for help with his little present for Sam.

Greg reached the apartment and heard the shower running. He put his keys on the table by the door, went to the fridge and grabbed a water. He stood by the table drinking it, waiting for his turn in the shower.

Sam emerged ten minutes later looking a little tired.

"Level?" Greg looked at him skeptically.

"Five, but the meds are starting to kick in, thank god." Sam put a hand to his head.

"Too much bouncing around on the jog?"

"Yeah, I think so." When Sam saw the fear in Greg's eyes he said seriously. "I'm ok Boss. Five is not bad." He walked to the couch and sat down, put his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes for a minute. He didn't want to argue. He'd argued enough with Greg for awhile.

Greg half-smiled. "Ok. We still have a rubber match to play from our hospital chess games if you feel like it."

"I'll get the board set up." Sam smiled and went to the closet.

"I'll be out in ten." Greg pointed his thumb at the bathroom.

"Good. Give me time to strategize." Sam said as he pulled the pieces from the box.

"What do you think I'll be doing?" Greg laughed. Sam was a tough chess opponent. He'd have to get Sam and Ed to play, that would be something to watch.


	34. Chapter 34

Once Greg returned from his shower they settled into the rhythm of the game. They didn't talk much as they were both so enthralled with what move they were going to use next. When Sam made an unexpected move, Greg sat back and frowned.

Damn, Greg thought. I didn't see him get his knight into that position. How did he do that? What were his last moves? Two pawns, rook, when did he move the knight?

Sam smiled as he watched Greg examine the board. He hadn't realized I put the knight there on purpose, he thought. Good. I have him right where I want him. Come on, move your rook, you know you want to, he silently urged. His headache had finally backed down and was back to a two. He was glad, he'd seen the worried looks on Spike and Lew's faces. He knew it'd be hard for them all to not baby him, which they know he doesn't like. He understood though, it's what families do.

Greg leaned forward, put a finger on his rook and considered what that would do. No, I can't do that, he thought. That will leave my queen open and let him move that damn knight into checkmate. As he thought he looked at Sam. Damn, look at him, he thought. That was his plan, damn him. In their games in the hospital Sam had tried some bold moves on him, but he had caught them before it got too far.

"Sneaky little bugger." Greg smiled at Sam.

Sam shrugged. "Make your move mein Fürher." [my leader] He looked at Greg with a gleam in his eye. He knew there was only one move Greg could make that would keep him out of check or checkmate. He hadn't seen it yet but given enough time he would. Sam hoped his challenge would make Greg move before he really considered every move.

Greg looked at him thoughtfully. He was trying to rush him into moving. He must have a way out. He looked at the board and asked, "when did you learn German?"

"That is an interesting story, which I will tell you once you've made your move." Sam smiled. That's not going to work, he thought.

"Hmm." Greg nodded. Then he saw it. He moved his knight into position, taking out Sam's knight. He hit the clock.

"Damn." Sam looked at Greg. "Let you think too long."

"No, it was your diversion tactic that made me take a second look. Nice try bruder. [brother]" Greg smiled cunningly.

"Well you should've taken longer." Sam smirked. He picked up his rook and moved it across the open space to Greg's king. "Checkmate, bruder."

"Damn!" Greg leaned forward and looked at the board again. They needed to start letting Sam help more with tactical, he had the mind for it. He looked up at Sam and shook his head, "schön gemacht. Weir wollen Sie Deutsch?" [very nice. How do you know German?]

Sam nodded. A funny Matt story. He loved telling these, it helped him not miss Matt as much. They had so many misadventures together, he had tons of stories to tell. Sam told Greg about the time he and Matt had spent nights in their bunks learning German for their upcoming leave. They had planned the trip carefully, making sure they hit every pub from Salzburg to Munich.

They had planned on two weeks, but the General had cut it short because he needed Sam's unit to take out a target sooner rather than later. They hadn't even gotten close to Munich when the General had recalled them, but they made it to the airport to catch their ride back to the desert. They'd had a great week though, they saw the sights, Sam looked up some of his ancestors from his mother's side in Munich, and they drank.

The German had come in handy when they met some local girls to hang out with. Matt hadn't picked up as much of the language as Sam had. Matt could really only say, can I buy you a drink, when do we eat, and where is the bathroom. He picked up on 'was ist das?' [what is that?] pretty quickly, especially when it came to the food. Sam had a natural ear for languages and was able to easily converse with the girls.

"We had a great time. I told Matt to tell the girl he liked, 'vielen Danke für die gute Zeit'. [thanks for the good time]" he laughed the memory of the girl slapping Matt across the face, calling him a pig and stomping off.

Greg laughed. "I'll bet that was well received."

"He got slapped across the face and I got laid out. He was so mad." Sam laughed and looked down. After a moment his smile faded. He looked up at Greg, pain in his eyes. "I miss him so much."

Greg saw the hurt in his eyes and wanted to rush to his side, but sat still. "I know." He said softly. "But the memories help to keep him in your heart. It'll always be hard when you think of him. It was tragic and horrible, but he wouldn't want you to keep punishing yourself."

Sam thought about it for a moment and pushed the pain down, stuffed it in a box and put it away. He looked back to Greg and said, "thanks."

"You ok?" Greg could see that Sam had accepted what he said to a degree. He knew there would always be a part of Sam that hurt for what he'd done to his best friend.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. He looked at the clock over the TV, 0900, plenty of time. He looked back at Greg. "My turn for breakfast. Pancakes?"

"Sure. I'm not sure I have everything to make them though." Greg's brows went up in surprise.

Sam got up and checked the cupboards and fridge. Nope. "I'll run to the store. Anything else we need besides eggs and flour?"

"You're making them from scratch?" Greg's eyebrows went up further wrinkling his forehead.

"The only way I know." Sam shrugged.

"Ok." Greg said and grabbed his keys. "We'll take my car. I need to get a few things that'd make it difficult if not impossible on a bike."

Sam was going to protest when he saw the keys. He thought Greg was being overprotective. When they came back with the groceries, he was glad Greg had insisted on taking the car. They had two bags full of stuff plus a 24 pack of water, a six pack of mellow yellow and a six pack of Pepsi.

Sam was not allowed to have alcohol yet and was told to keep the caffeine to a minimum until they were sure his headaches were under control. He had a cup of coffee while they played chess, but that was his allotment for the day. He'd take a Pepsi and water with him to Ed's. He hoped that restrictment would be lifted by the time he was allowed back at the SRU. They all lived on coffee, especially during a long shift.

He shook it off and helped Greg put the groceries away, he took out what he needed to make the pancakes and shooed Greg out of the kitchen. He grabbed the apples and started slicing. His mother would be so proud of him right now. Her little soldier in the kitchen making apple cinnamon pancakes from scratch. He smiled and got out the cinnamon he'd bought at the store. While he was pouring the batter in the pan he started humming. He heard laughter from the living room and peeked out to see Greg sitting at the table, looking in his direction and laughing hysterically. "What?"

"I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I am. I got married to the woman next door, she's been married, seven times before and ev'ry one was a 'enery, 'ENERY. Wasn't nor a Billy or a Sam. Not a Sam!" Greg sung in his best British voice.

Sam suddenly remembered why that was so funny. He had sung it loud and proud in the hospital. He blushed and went back to his work. "Second verse, same as the first." He said quietly. Apparently it wasn't quiet enough because Greg walked into the kitchen and started singing the whole thing over again. Sam finally relented and sung along while he flipped pancakes.

After they ate and Greg washed up he dishes, they settled on the couch and watched some TV until it was time to go to Ed's.

##### Ed's house, Thursday 1200 hrs #####

Ed heard a knock on the door, stood and walked to it. He was surprised to see Greg and Sam had come so early, but he didn't care. "Hey guys. Come on in." He stepped aside and let Sam and Greg walk in.

"Who is it hon?" Sophie called from the kitchen.

"Greg and Sam." He called back and walked with them to the two couches set in a wide V pattern in front of the TV with a lazy boy in between the two couches. There were side tables between the lazy boy and each couch and at the far ends of the couches. There were two small tables in front of each couch that already had snacks laid out on them.

Sam sat on the recliner, while Greg took the seat at the end of one couch next to Sam and Greg at the end of the other couch next to Sam.

"So Samo, how's the head?" Ed looked at him.

Sam smiled at the nickname and said, "good. Still have a little ways to go, but it's better."

Ed's blue eyes pierced Sam's. He was telling the truth. "Good." He patted Sam's knee. "We'll have you back in no time."

"I hope so." Sam agreed and looked at the TV. If I can come back at all, he thought.

Ed could see Sam wasn't so sure about his future. He wondered what Sam would do if he couldn't return to the SRU. It'd be very hard for Sam to take. He wouldn't be able to return to the Army either. If it happened they would all have to do whatever Sam needed to get through it. "Don't worry until there's something to worry about." He said simply, and Sam looked at him. "My dad always said that to me. He also said, 'it never does you any good worrying about what might be so live with what is."

Sam gave Ed a half-smile. "It's hard not to when it affects the rest of my life. The what-ifs are killing me."

"I know." Ed nodded. "Me too. Wait and see sucks." Ed said angrily. "Just know that we will all be here for you. You need anything, just ask."

Sam gave him a half smile. "Thanks."

"Help yourselves to whatever you want." Ed put his hands out towards the food.

Sam sniffed at the air. "Oh man. Is Sophie making banana bread?" Sam looked at Ed with hunger in his eyes.

"Yeah. Come on, I totally forgot my manners, sorry. I should've introduced you."

Sam stood and followed Ed. "No big." He was actually following his nose to the kitchen.

"Hey Soph, Clark, this is Sam. Sam, my wife Sophie and son Clark." Ed smiled and introduced them.

t"Nice to finally meet you." Sophie shot Ed a daggered look and gave Sam a hug. She followed Sam's gaze behind her to the bread cooling on a rack. "Do you want some banana bread? Fresh from the oven."

"Yes please." Sam smiled. "Hey Clark." Sam looked at the young boy. "So your dad tells me you play the cello? That's pretty cool."

"Yeah it's fun. Except for all the practicing." Clark rolled his eyes at the last part.

"Yeah I hated that part too." Sam agreed.

Clark lit up. "You play the cello?"

"No my parents made me learn the violin, but I haven't played in years."

"You play the violin?" Ed looked at Sam surprised. He suddenly realized he didn't know that much about Sam and would definitely be making the effort to do so.

"Played. Past tense. It'd probably sound like I was killing a cat if I tried now." Sam shrugged.

Ed cringed when Sam said cat. "Had to throw that in there didn't you?" His eyes lit with annoyance. He didn't add that he wouldn't mind if he killed a cat, but left it out for Clark's sake.

Sam shrugged.

"Do you want to see my cello?" Clark asked.

"Sure!" Sam nodded. He followed an excited Clark up the stairs. Five minutes later they could hear beautiful music floating down the stairs. After that, well it sounded like Sam had found a cat to kill.


	35. Chapter 35

##### Sam's apartment, two weeks after 2nd hospital release 0730 hrs ##

Sam was angry, very very angry. He threw a glass across the room and watched it shatter against the living room wall. Luckily it had just missed the window, otherwise he would've had an even bigger mess to clean up and an explanation to give the super. He grunted in frustration, walked to the kitchen closet, grabbed the dustpan and broom and started sweeping up the wet mess. Damn it, he thought. He cleaned up the mess and flopped down on his couch.

He put his head back and closed his eyes. The goddamned headache was back. He growled loudly in frustration, punching the couch cushion. I can't tell Ed or the Boss, he thought. I just got back to the SRU and now I've got another damned headache. He took a deep cleansing breath and blew it out. He'd had to do something he hadn't ever done, called in sick. Winnie had told him she hoped he feels better and would let the team know.

Standing, then sitting back down because he was dizzy, Sam put his head on his hands. He had done something else he hadn't wanted not do since last week. He took the medication the doctor prescribed for whenever he had a flare up.

He had been so happy last week when he had finally been able to stop taking the medication. It made him laugh now, but he'd been so determined to get back to the SRU that he had bought meditation CDs to help him relax and focus. The doctor had mentioned that to him because stress would definitely be a trigger for his headache. Sam had laughed at the time, but had changed his mind when it started to help.

It'd been a half hour since he took the meds and the headache hadn't eased up yet. He had woken up at his normal time to get to the SRU for workout, but had to call in sick when he couldn't even stand. He'd been back at the SRU for almost a week and had dealt with smaller headaches during that time, but this was a bad one.

He sat back against the couch and smiled when he thought about the small pouch Spike had made for him for his meds. It was just big enough to hold a bottle of pills and was made of the same black material as their vests so it blended in. It had two small clips that attached it to his vest so that he always had them handy whenever he needed them.

The meds the doctor gave him weren't a problem for him to continue with the SRU. Sam had to take some the other day during a call. He was out in the hot sun for several hours, watching the action, relaying information and waiting for the Scorpio command if needed. He had moved his head slightly to wipe sweat from his brow and had felt a familiar twinge.

Not wanting to wait for it to get bad he had opened the pouch and pulled out a pill. When Ed had heard the rattle of the pills he'd been concerned, but Sam assured him he was ok, it was just the beginnings of a headache. There had been a little bit of a heated discussion between Ed and Sam about Sam needing to be relieved as Sierra One, but it had quickly been resolved when Greg made the decision to keep Sam where he was.

When a loud knock sounded at the door, he stood and walked to it very slowly. It wasn't fast enough because he heard a concerned Ed say, "Sam? Should we break it down?"

Sam finally made it to the door and opened it. "Please don't." He looked at the six concerned faces in front of him. "Come in."

"You ok Samo?" Ed took the few steps into the apartment and walked next to Sam as he made his way to the couch. He sat when Sam sat.

"Yeah. Bad one." Sam sat on the couch and laid back. "As soon as it's gone I'll join you." He looked at Greg who was standing in front of Sam along with Jules, Spike, Wordy and Lew.

"Nope. Take the day Sam. We'll be ok." Greg shook his head.

"I don't understand why it came back all of a sudden." Sam sighed.

"Really?" Jules laughed. "That guy slugged you pretty hard." She pointed to the purple, yellow and black bruise on his chin. She sat on the other side of him and put a hand on his knee. "Did you take anything last night?"

"No. Guess I should've." Sam gave her a semi-smile. Her hand was warm on his knee. He hadn't thought the guy would be able to get that punch to connect while they wrestled to the ground, but it had landed squarely on his jaw. It was so fun to deal with subjects on PCP, he thought.

"What's your level?" Wordy asked concerned.

"7," he looked up at Wordy, "and a half." He added. He knew they'd freak and bring him to the hospital if they knew it was really more like 9.

Wordy regarded him skeptically. He could see in Sam's eyes that it was worse than that. "How long ago did you take your meds?"

"About a half hour, but I think they're starting to kick in." Sam said honestly. He could feel the sharp edges of the headache start to dull.

"Sam." Spike said it as a warning.

Sam looked up at him. "Yes Spike."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No." When he saw Spike set his jaw, Sam said, "honest Spike. I'll be ok, just need to lie down for a while." He stood.

"Ok." Spike relented. "Guess we need to work on your Kung-Foo, grasshopper." He smiled. Everyone laughed.

"Yes master." Sam put his palms together in front of him and bowed, cringing a little internally.

"How did he get they punch in?" Jules asked as she walked beside him towards the bedroom, a hand on his back.

"Lucky." Sam smiled.

Jules made sure Sam got to the bed ok and then walked out of the room. She looked back and he was already asleep.

They walked out of the apartment and quietly shut the door. Later that day they stopped in to Sam's apartment again to check on him but he didn't answer. They figured he was still sleeping and left. They were met by Sam as they left his building. He stopped his bike and walked it up to the bike rack. He was in his full tactical gear.

"What're you doing Sam?" Ed asked, his ire rising.

"Trying to find you guys." Sam said as he locked his bike to the rack. "Winnie said you were patrolling, but you were blocks from here."

"We took a little detour." Lew smiled.

"So, what's the plan?" Sam asked.

"We go back to patrolling, you go back to your apartment and relax." Ed said angrily.

"I'm good." Sam smiled but he could see Ed was not having it. "Come on. My headache is gone, I can't sit in my apartment all day and do nothing."

Ed looked to Greg. Greg gave a small nod. Ed turned back to Sam, "ok but if I see so much as a twinge you're in the truck with Spike."

Sam looked at Spike who gave him a big grin. "Oh the torture." He said flatly. "Agreed."

Spike put an arm around Sam's shoulders and they walked to the SUVs together.

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AN: There you go! Thank you all so much for reading and commenting on this story. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to give them. I appreciate the input! Or if you have a fanfic request, I will gladly take those as well. I have a couple more ideas brewing so stay tuned!

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